|
|
|
Last Updated: Sep 5th, 2008 - 11:53:45 |
La. Officer Indicted in Tasing Death
In Louisiana, a White police officer has been indicted for the tasing death of a young African American man in the town of Winnfield. Baron Pikes died on January 17 from electrocution after the police officer, Scott Nugent, shot him nine times with a taser. Pikes was already in handcuffs at the time. Last month, his death was ruled a homicide. Pikes was the first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena Six case. Nugent could face up to 45 years in prison. The family of Pikes has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against city officials in the town of Winnfield.
Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel.
Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.
US Troop Donations Favor Obama over McCain
In campaign news, a new analysis shows a large majority of US troops abroad are donating to presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama over Republican rival John McCain. The Center for Responsive Politics says among US servicemembers, Obama has out-raised McCain by a nearly six-to-one margin. The ratio marks a stark reversal from the last two presidential elections, where President Bush out-raised both Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.
Jackson Browne Sues McCain for Campaign Ad
In other news, the musician Jackson Browne is suing Senator McCain for using one of his songs in a campaign aid. A McCain ad criticizing Obama uses Browne’s 1977 song “Running on Empty.” Browne is well known for his support of progressive causes. He is suing McCain for copyright infringement.
Adviser Briefed McCain on Georgia After Inking Lobbying Deal
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain is coming under increasing criticism over his top foreign policy adviser’s business ties to the Georgian government. The adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is a part owner of the lobbying firm Orion Strategies. The Washington Post has revealed Scheunemann briefed McCain before an April phone call with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili the same day Orion signed a $200,000 contract to advise Saakashvili’s government. Scheunemann then helped McCain draft a strong statement of support for Georgia. McCain: “Nations Don’t Invade Other Nations”
McCain: “Nations Don’t Invade Other Nations”
Meanwhile, McCain appeared to make a new campaign gaffe Wednesday when he claimed he doesn’t support the right of nations to invade other nations.
Sen. John McCain: “I want to have a dialogue with the Russians. I want them to get out of Georgian territory as quickly as possible. And I am interested in good relations between the United States and Russia. But in the twenty-first century, nations don’t invade other nations.”
Murder Charges Dismissed Against 7 Officers in Post-Katrina Shootings
In New Orleans, a judge has thrown out murder charges against seven police officers in the deadly shooting of two people after Hurricane Katrina. The victims, forty-two-year-old Ronald Madison and nineteen-year-old James Brissette, were crossing the Danziger Bridge when they came between a gun battle between a group of armed assailants and the seven officers. Madison, who was mentally handicapped, was shot seven times, including five times in his back. In his dismissal, District Judge Raymond Bigelow said prosecutors violated state law by divulging grand jury testimony to a witness.
Study: Most Corporations Avoid Income Taxes
A new government study shows most corporations pay no income taxes in the United States. According to the Government Accountability Office, 72 percent of foreign-owned companies went at least one year without paying taxes over an eight-year period. 55 percent of US-based companies also went at least a year without paying.
Congress to Investigate New Allegations About Bush Administration
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Judiciary Committee say they will review allegations the White House ordered the CIA to forge and disseminate false intelligence documents linking al-Qaeda and Iraq. The revelation is among several in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind’s explosive new book, The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism..
Democratic Party Chair Fatally Shot
And in Arkansas, the chair of the state Democratic Party has died after being shot at party headquarters in Little Rock. Bill Gwatney, a former state senator, was forty-eight. Terry Hastings of the Little Rock Police Department said the motive is unclear.
Terry Hastings: “We are not sure of a motive right now for the shooting or what caused it or if he was looking for any particular person. That’s something detectives will be determining. We have approximately fifteen to twenty witnesses that we are interviewing, but right now that’s about all we are willing to release at this point, until such time as we find out the condition of the suspect, as well as a possible motive.”
The gunman, Timothy Dale Johnson, later died in a shootout with police.
Denver Police Set Up Cages for DNC Protesters
In Denver, the local CBS News affiliate has revealed city police have set up dozens of metal cages inside a warehouse to hold jailed protesters at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The five-by-five-yard cages are made out of chain link fence material and secured by rolls of barbed wire. A sign reads “Warning! Electric stun devices used in this facility.” Protesters have dubbed the site “Gitmo on the Platte,” a reference to the Guantanamo Bay prison and the Platte River.
FBI Admits Obtaining Records of Reporters
The FBI has admitted it illegally obtained the phone records of reporters for the New York Times and Washington Post in 2004. FBI Director Robert Mueller has told the papers that the FBI obtained the records for four reporters in the papers’ Indonesian bureaus apparently as part of a terrorism investigation.
Exoneration of Israeli Troops in Fatal Shootings Raises Fears of Further Attacks
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Palestinian journalists and Israeli human rights groups are joining to condemn an Israeli decision not to prosecute soldiers involved in the death of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana and eight Palestinian youths. The twenty-four-year-old Shana died on April 16th in Gaza when an Israeli tank shelled his vehicle clearly marked “press.” Shana’s final piece of footage shows the tank firing a shell just before the camera went black. The other eight victims were aged between twelve and twenty years old. Reuters correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi said the decision is being feared as an endorsement of future attacks.
Nidal al-Mughrabi: “The Israeli report on the killing of Fadel has grown fears among Palestinian journalists covering the conflict with Israel in the Gaza…between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the Gaza Strip, about the mission, you know, the mission to cover and to film. And we have been hearing from all other colleagues that they are not certain, they are not sure, about their lives anymore after such a report, which makes clear that the mere raising of a camera in the street, in a refugee camp or near the border can put someone’s life in danger.”
Meanwhile, in Israel, Jessica Montell, director of the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, said Israel had used illegal weapons in the attack.
Jessica Montell: “In this incident on April 16th, six civilians were killed by flechette darts, a weapon that is illegal, that should not be being used in these conditions in the Gaza Strip, and one of the six was a journalist. For all of these reasons, I would have expected the army to have opened and conducted a very thorough investigation into this case, and they chose not to do so. The lack of accountability in this case is reflected in the lack of accountability for thousands of Palestinians who have been killed in the Occupied Territories.”
Protesters Injured in West Bank Demonstration
In the West Bank, at least eleven protesters were injured when Israeli troops fired rubber bullets at a group protesting the separation wall in the village of Nilin. Nilin has been the site of a weekly nonviolent protests and the site of three fatal shootings of Palestinian civilians over the past two months.
Morales Opponent Resigns After Recall Loss
In Bolivia, a vocal opponent of President Evo Morales has announced he’s stepping down after initially vowing to defy a referendum ousting him from office. Cochabamba Governor Manfred Reyes was among three governors to lose the recall vote. He initially said he’d stay in office. But on Tuesday, Reyes reversed course and said he’ll resign.
Manfred Reyes: “What I least want is for somebody to take advantage of the image of Manfred to bring about a confrontation between members of Cochabamba residents. That’s why today I am letting the secretary general of the prefecture to continue this work while I conduct the pertinent legal affairs and while I show that the decree of the electoral court was harmful to justice in Bolivia.”
Another Morales opponent, La Paz governor Jose Luis Paredes also says he will resign after losing his recall vote. More than 63 percent voted to back Morales’s government, nearly ten points more than the 54 percent that elected him in December 2005.
Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel.
Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
