Reports say the federal government is considering antitrust probes of Google and Amazon. Big Tech could be a bogeyman for both sides in the 2020 election.
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Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx shifts Jussie Smollett recusal reasons, releases files
Chicago’s top prosecutor again shifted her explanation for why she recused herself from an investigation into Jussie Smollett’s claim that he’d been the target of a hate crime, saying she stepped aside because of false rumors she was related to the “Empire” actor.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx offered the new public explanation in a statement issued along with the release of 2,000 pages of documents in the case, which also refer to the rumors arising as suspicions grew that Smollett, who is black and gay, staged the attack against himself.
Her statement and the documents, which included internal office communications, illustrate how Foxx and her office at times agonized over whether she should recuse herself at all and over how to explain the decision in March to drop all charges that accused Smollett of lying about the assault and making a false police report. Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago in January.
Foxx said in her Friday statement: “False rumors circulated that I was related or somehow connected to the Smollett family, so I removed myself from all aspects of the investigation and prosecution … so as to avoid even the perception of a conflict.”
But previous explanations suggested that she recused herself in February because of communications with a Smollett family member as the investigation of the reported attack was ongoing.
Foxx communicated in early February with former first lady Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff Tina Tchen, who was representing Smollett’s family, and with a member of Smollett’s family about the investigation. She recused herself on Feb. 13, and her office cited the communications with the Smollett relative, whom Tchen had encouraged Foxx to call, as the reason for the decision.
The new documents portrayed her as torn about whether to recuse herself at all.
In texts with her chief of staff, Jennifer Ballard Croft, Foxx said she was unhappy about having to step away from the investigation — even calling the false rumors “racist.”
An ethics officer, she said, “told me I had to do it.” She continued: “There were rumors she claims that I was related to or closely connected to the Smolletts. I told her that wasn’t true. She said it was pervasive (in the Chicago Police Department) and that I should recuse. I thought it was dumb but acquiesced. It’s actually just racist.”
Previously released communications also show how Foxx inserted herself in the case even though she had publicly vowed to stay out of the decision-making.
Parts of the Friday releases, not attributed directly to Foxx but to her office, say the new materials being released “reveals that the State’s Attorney was advised to “recuse” herself … solely based upon rumors that she was related to Smollett — which she is not.”
It also suggests miscommunication, saying that attorneys within the office advised against using the word “recusal” in what Foxx was doing — because they saw no actual conflict of interest.
“Those communications were not escalated to the State’s Attorney herself,” she said.
Smollett faced 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was assaulted by two men early on Jan. 29. Investigators said he made the false report because he was unhappy with his pay on “Empire” and believed such an incident would give his career a boost. Foxx’s office dropped the charges on March 26 without any admission of guilt by Smollett, prompting a hail of criticism, including from then Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
Foxx’s office released the hundreds of police reports, warrants, internal emails and texts — that media organization had requested for months — as offices closed for the weekend Friday evening. A judge had approved release of the files last week.
Among the documents were letters to Foxx from supporters of Smollett in February, urging her office to rethink the charges.
One letter was from New York attorney Brian Ponder, who wrote “#NotJustJussie” in the subject line.
He wrote in his letter, dated Feb. 21, 2019, that he understood the gravity of a false-report accusation, but added that, “We trust such charges are not only pursued due to social, political, or racial bias.” He said: “We trust your office will review, investigate, and charge all false reporters, and not just Jussie. America is watching.”
The recusal issue has continued to dog the state’s attorney’s office.
In late March — after questions were raised about the dropping of charges — Foxx and her aides sought to recast her role, with one statement saying Foxx “used the term ‘recuse'” in the “colloquial use of the term.” They said the correct description was that she had “informally separated herself from the decision-making” in the case.
As documents released earlier illustrated, Foxx nevertheless weighed in at critical points as her staff decided whether to proceed with the prosecution, which began when Smollett was charged on Feb. 20. Her input included a March 8 text to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats, who became the final decision-maker in the Smollett case after Foxx purportedly stepped away.
Foxx texted: “Sooo …… I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging cases … 16 counts on a class 4 becomes exhibit A.”
Magats responded to his boss, saying: “Yes. I can see where that can be seen as excessive.”
In her direct Friday statement, Foxx called the Smollett case “unique.”
“Allegations of a vicious homophobic and racially motivated attack shook our city and the nation with understandable anger and fear,” she said. And she added: “I did not have a conflict of interest in this case; only a sincere desire to serve the community.”
But she also conceded that the matter, especially on the recusal issue, wasn’t handled as well as it could have been.
“I regret that my attempts to this end created confusion outside the office,” she said. She added later: “I am sorry that despite the best intentions, our efforts were less than what was required of the moment,” she said.
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from theGrio https://on.thegrio.com/2Z6VjYd
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New York Health Department continues to debate over cannabis oil
The fight to legalize the cannabis oil CBD made its way to a jam-packed hearing before the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.
More than 400 applicants from around the country, ranging from law firms to retailers, all petitioned the F.D.A hoping for a shot at testifying. The agency was forced to resort to a lottery system, which grated 120 the opportunity to address the hearing in testimony between two to five minutes, according to The New York Times.
Read More: Lil Pump partners with cannabis company
Meanwhile in New York, city lawmakers are fighting the Health Department’s ban on CBD, saying the chemical compound should be treated no differently than weed in the legalization discussion.
“We see it as kind of ironic that we are going after CBD while doing a legalization push for marijuana,” Winthrop Roosevelt, spokesman for City Councilman Mark Levine, told The New York Post.
In Washington, D.C., the F.D.A. hearing comes at a time where two very vocal sides have offering opposing viewpoints on the benefits and dangers of weed, depending on who you ask. For its part, the F.D.A. has its own reservations about the cannabis industry but is under congressional pressure to open up the CBD market for the release of cannabis products. In fact, many of these products are already on the market – but it’s up to the F.D.A. to decide whether to continue to allow companies to sell the products or to pull them from shelves.
Read More: 5 Black cannabis activists ensuring the “green rush” is inclusive
Susan Cooper, of LilyHemp (Infused Herbal Goodness), told The Times: “I have been privileged, awed and at times brought to tears by the positive changes CBD has brought to my customers’ lives.”
But Michelle Peace, an assistant professor of forensic science at Virginia Commonwealth University, testified that there’s nothing positive about what she’s been seeing: “We have seen a rash of reports nationwide from people being poisoned from taking CBD products.”
The Cannabis plant family includes hemp and marijuana. Until recently, the federal government considered the plant family to be controlled dangerous substances. However, the 2018 farm bill decided that hemp and derivatives like CBD were not a threat and had some beneficial qualities and should thus be removed from the controlled substance list – granted the products had less than 0.3 percent THC.
Read More: Beyond The Smoke: Cannabis for health, not a high
The World Health Organization also ruled that CBD is safe and not addictive.
At Friday’s hearing, many academic researchers agreed that CBD does contain some health benefits but said more clinical trials should be conducted before rolling it out widespread.
The post New York Health Department continues to debate over cannabis oil appeared first on theGrio.
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Victim’s mom says Kim Kardashian is misinformed about Kevin Cooper
Kim Kardashian has helped to free some non-violent offenders, but she is now trying to help a convicted murderer who may be using her goodwill to trick her, according to the mom of one of his alleged victims.
Mary Ann Hughes told TMZ that she is sickened to see Kardashian working with death row inmate Kevin Cooper to try and prove his innocence. Hughes said evidence shows Cooper is guilty of killing her 11-year-old son, Christopher, in 1983.
“It makes me feel sick to my stomach and I pity her. For what she’s doing to us, there’s nothing to justify what she’s doing to us, the immense pain she is causing us,” Hughes told TMZ, adding that Kim “obviously has not read all of the actual evidence — she has bought into half-truths perpetrated by the defense. If she actually sat down and read the transcripts of all the trials and appeals, she would be sick to her stomach to be in the same room with him.”
Cooper was convicted of murdering his neighbors, Doug and Peggy Ryen, their daughter, Jessica, and Christopher, who was spending the night.
But Kardashian thinks he’s innocent. Since last year, she has been on a mission to help non-violent drug offenders to get released from prison – starting with Alice Marie Johnson last year.
This time, however, Hughes says Kardashian is being duped.
Yet still she persists. Kim visited with Cooper inside of San Quentin prison last Thursday and has lobbied California governor to order more DNA testing in his case. For his part, Cooper has always maintained his innocence and said he was framed.
Read More: Black attorney clarifies her project litigated release for 17 inmates, not Kim Kardashian West
Hughes said nonsense.
“He’s 100 percent guilty and the evidence shows it. If you want the whole truth, read the 94 page document on the website of the San Bernardino County D.A.,” Hughes told TMZ.
The post Victim’s mom says Kim Kardashian is misinformed about Kevin Cooper appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://on.thegrio.com/3154s5a
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‘When They See Us’ sparking calls for Linda Fairstein book boycott
Linda Fairstein may be suffering book sales soon.
The former Manhattan district attorney responsible with charging five innocent Black juveniles, dubbed the Central Park Five, with the rape of a female jogger is back in the spotlight with the release of the Netflix docuseries, When They See Us, which premiered on Friday. Taking to social media after viewing the docuseries, people slammed Fairstein for wrongfully arresting and imprisoning the five teens, whose charges were later thrown out, but not before they served years behind bars, according to Blasting News.
Read More: ‘When They See Us’ actor Jharrel Jerome reveals greatest inspiration for Central Park Five Netflix film
In addition to the botched Central Park rape investigation, Fairstein is best known as an author of the Alexandra Cooper books, where she covers her experiences as a New York prosecutor. That experience has some lambasting her for sending five innocent Black boys to prison for a crime they never committed.
The #CentralPark5 case has to haunt Linda Fairstein to this day. Special place is hell for that type of lying. Thanks @ava for telling this story. #whentheyseeus pic.twitter.com/ot69yAyN1o
— BallerAlert (@balleralert) May 31, 2019
“The #CentralPark5 case has to haunt Linda Fairstein to this day,” tweeted @balleralert. “Special place is hell for that type of lying. Thanks @ava for telling this story.” #whentheyseeus
Wait, so Linda Fairstein relentlessly went after these innocent kids, she helped silence a case against Harvey Weinstein, and she was part of the decision not to prosecute Dominique Strauss-Kahn …and @glamourmag awarded her Woman of the Year?#WhenTheySeeUs
— April (@AprilTara) May 31, 2019
Added @AprilTara: “Wait, so Linda Fairstein relentlessly went after these innocent kids, she helped silence a case against Harvey Weinstein, and she was part of the decision not to prosecute Dominique Strauss-Kahn … and @glamourmag awarded her Woman of the Year?” #WhenTheySeeUs
Read More: CNN segment explodes when Trump supporter defends president’s treatment of the Central Park Five
What makes matters even worse is that apparently Fairstein still stands behind her prosecution of the Central Park 5 and believes their convictions should not have been overturned. The City of New York ended up paying the men more than 40 million dollars for their wrongful convictions.
When They See Us, which was created, written and directed by Ava DuVernay, tells the true life story of the Central Park 5 and all that they endured. People are responding to the miniseries by pledging never to support Fairstein’s books again.
Boycott it is. Maybe then, she’ll see us.
The post ‘When They See Us’ sparking calls for Linda Fairstein book boycott appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://thegrio.com/2019/06/02/linda-fairstein-book-boycott/
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Five people injured in stampede at Roots Picnic music festival
A rampant rumor that a concert goer in Philadelphia had a gun was enough to spark a stampede in which five people were injured at the Roots Picnic music festival.
The crowd broke into a stampede around 6:40 p.m. while 21 Savage was on the main stage at the Mann Center, according to Philly Voice. Police said what prompted the stampede was someone in the crowd said someone had a weapon, although officers didn’t find a gun.
Others said it wasn’t a gun, but rather a fist fight that caused the pandemonium. One source said that it could have been something as simple as someone throwing up and backing up into the crowd that prompted the stampede.
Luckily, four of the five injuries appear to be minor in nature, reported police. The fifth person broke a leg. All five people were treated at local hospitals.
Attendees took to social media to discuss the incident and to weigh in on the various rumors.
According to Billy Penn, one attendee said after a fight broke out near the stage, attendees started to push to get away from it. Penn also addressed another rumor about the stage allegedly collapsing, causing the chaos Saturday night.
Some were so shaken, they declined to go back into the Mann Center after the ruckus.
“The type of f*****g RUN we had to do at the roots picnic. I still have f*****g anxiety. The fact that we live in a society with active shooter situations at events caused so much hysteria. I really ran for my life. I will NEVER do another festival again,” one Twitter user stated.
The Roots Picnic music festival is always a popular one for music enthusiasts. This year marks the 12th year for the festival. Previously, the music festival was held at Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing, but that location officially closed this year.
Despite the hooplah, the concert was filled with amazing performances from the likes of Common, Lil Baby, H.E.R., DJ Aktive, Tank and The Bangas, Yasiin Bey, Pharoahe Monch, Davido and Jilly from Philly aka Jill Scott. The closing concert was from The Roots, proving why they have been winning in the game for so long.
This was the first year that the event was held at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park.
The post Five people injured in stampede at Roots Picnic music festival appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://thegrio.com/2019/06/02/stampede-roots-picnic/
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New York City Airbnb host calls Black men ‘monkeys’ and ‘criminals’
Chef Meshach Cisero tasted a bitter dish of racism and disrespect while staying at an Airbnb house in New York City over the weekend.
On a Twitter post, Cisero shared that he and four of his friends experienced racism by the host, only identified as Kate, and were subsequently kicked out of her Upper East Side apartment at 2:30 a.m. Kate questioned the number of people in the house and said there was only supposed to be four people, before Cisero reminded her that her post said two beds and a couch and the fifth person would be sleeping on the sofa.
Read More: After rash of racist incidents, Airbnb partners with NAACP to help Black people cash in
— Meshach Cisero (@mcisero24) June 1, 2019
Here are a select few of the most outrageous comments from the video.
“It says no party. This is a f*****g party,” Kate responded. “Which monkey is going to stay on the couch?”
“Monkey? Your mom,” one of the men replied back. Kate is then seen walking down the steps.
“Record and repost this as much as possible. Me and my friends just encountered a racist Airbnb host,” the chef said later on a Twitter post. “We entered Airbnb this evening, all coming in from different parts of the country to have a good time in New York City and our Airbnb host treated us very disrespectfully. She complained unnecessarily about our noise. She racially profiled us calling us criminals. She used racial slurs such as monkeys to describe us. She complained and said she felt threatened by our presence there.”
So far, Twitter posts on the incident have garnered more than 1.6 million views.
Read More: Pharrell urges Virginia Beach citizens to become Airbnb hosts to support upcoming festival
Airbnb has issued a statement condemning the host’s racist language and states that she has been removed from their platform.
“The language used in this video is unacceptable and has no place in the Airbnb community,” spokesman Ben Breit told the Daily Mail. “We have a strict nondiscrimination policy, which we are enforcing to remove the host from our platform. We are supporting Mr. Cisero and his friends in getting them a new place to stay through our Open Doors policy. We’re thankful to them for bringing this to our attention so we could take action.”
Noirbnb, a site that promises to support Black people that travel with lodging and a variety of experiences, offered to help the chef find some place to stay.
Cisero is executive chef of The Cage Bird in Washington D.C.
The post New York City Airbnb host calls Black men ‘monkeys’ and ‘criminals’ appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://thegrio.com/2019/06/02/airbnb-black-men-monkeys/
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New Orleans’ Leah Chase aka the ‘Queen of Creole Cuisine’ dead at 96
The legendary queen of New Orleans Creole cuisine has died.
Leah Chase, who introduced her beloved Creole dishes to tourists from around the world, became a Civil Rights icon for refusing to abide by segregation laws, allowing Black and white patrons to dine together inside of her restaurant, Dooky Chase named after her late husband, according to NBC News.
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While in New Orleans, civil rights leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ernest “Dutch” Morial, the city’s first Black mayor, would dine at Dooky Chase’s and plan strategic voter registration drives or other impactful ways to challenge segregation laws and bring about change. Chase, 96, was also known to sneak food to some of these same leaders while they were unjustly jailed.
In a statement, Chase’s family said their matriarch, an “unwavering advocate for civil liberties” and firm “believer in the Spirit of New Orleans” died surrounded by her close-knit family.
Read More: Baltimore mayor makes Office of Civil Rights independent to avoid police conflict of interest
“Her daily joy was not simply cooking, but preparing meals to bring people together,” the statement read, according to NBC. “One of her most prized contributions was advocating for the Civil Rights Movement through feeding those on the front lines of the struggle for human dignity.”
Leah married Dooky Chase in 1946, and helped turn his family restaurant from a casual sandwich like spot into the legendary fine dining restaurant for which it is now known. She simply wanted to offer the same posh service to Black patrons that white restaurant-goers experienced in the French Quarter – complete with fancy tablecloths, silverware and delectable food such as jambalaya and gumbo.
“I said well why we can’t have that for our people? Why we can’t have a nice space?” Leah Chase said in a 2015 interview with The Associated Press. “So I started trying to do different things.”
“I love people and I love serving people. It’s fun for me to serve people. Because sometimes people will come in and they’re tired. And just a little plate of food will make people happy,” she added.
Read More: New Orleans school dean killed during Memorial Day weekend violence
When Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in 2005, it proved to be a devastating one for Dooky Chase’s. More than 5 feet of water flooded the restaurant and left mold in its wake.
Chase and her husband temporarily relocated to Birmingham but would later return to New Orleans, living out of a FEMA trailer situated next to their restaurant. From there, they rebuilt.
Dooky Chase preceded Leah in death in 2016.
The post New Orleans’ Leah Chase aka the ‘Queen of Creole Cuisine’ dead at 96 appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://thegrio.com/2019/06/02/leah-chase-dead-96/
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