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Congress members, activists decry assaults against anti-China protesters during San Francisco summit

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man protesting against China’s ruling Communist Party at the recent Asia-Pacific economic summit in San Francisco shared details Wednesday of an attack by pro-China supporters, saying he was left unconscious and that police should take action against his assailants.Kaiyu Zhang, who moved from Shanghai to Los Angeles in March, told reporters he and two other demonstrators were assaulted Nov. 17 by a group of young men wearing red headbands or arm bands after leaving a protest at the city’s international airport as leaders were departing the city.His remarks came a day after bipartisan leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China condemned efforts to silence critics of the Chinese Communist Party, known as the CCP. Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon cited videos from protests at the APEC summit showing human rights activists being harassed and assaulted by counterdemonstrators.“We, the C...

Jan. 6 suspect who later fired a gun toward Texas officers gets 2 years for firearm charge

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas man who shot toward sheriff’s deputies who were making a welfare call to his house on the day he had agreed to surrender on charges for taking part in the in the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.Nathan Donald Pelham, who was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Dallas. Pelham was accused of firing the shots from his rural home on April 12, the day he was told he was charged with four misdemeanors for allegedly participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Prosecutors say Pelham had agreed to surrender on the Capitol riot charges when he was contacted by an FBI agent. Later that day, though, a deputy from the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office was sent to the house about 50 miles (81 kilometers) northeast of Dallas in response to a welfare call made by a relative. A child was sent out of the house and deputies began to...

Texas man sentenced 2 years in prison for threatening Georgia election workers after 2020 election

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas man who was the first arrest by a Justice Department task force that investigates threats to election workers has been sentenced to two years in prison over posts made following the 2020 election, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.Chad Christopher Stark, 55, was accused of posting threatening messages on Craigslist about killing government officials in Georgia. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of communicating interstate threats. Prosecutors say Stark, who is from suburban Austin, urged Georgia residents on social media to “militia up” and called for shooting several unnamed officials and judges. The messages were posted on Jan. 5, 2021, the day before Congress was set to ratify the Electoral College’s votes.“Christopher Stark threatened the lives of multiple election workers in an attempt to prevent them from doing their job,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates the FBI’s res...

Woman injured after reportedly being pushed out of moving vehicle in Etobicoke, driver arrested

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

Toronto police have a driver in custody after the man allegedly crashed into several vehicles, including multiple police cruisers, injuring an officer.Investigators were notified of a collision in the Highway 27 and Humber College Boulevard area just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Police said the driver of a black sedan was involved in several collisions in the area and then fled the scene. There are unconfirmed reports that a woman was shoved out of the moving sedan and suffered serious injuries. The driver crashed into multiple police cruisers, and an officer was also injured.The male driver was located in the Hwy. 27 and Albion Road area, where he was arrested.The police officer was treated at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Musk uses expletive to tell audience he doesn’t care about advertisers that fled X over hate speech

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk said Wednesday that advertisers who have halted spending on his social media platform X in response to antisemitic and other hateful material are engaging in “blackmail” and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away. “Don’t advertise,” Musk said. He appeared to specifically call out Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, saying, “Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience … that’s how I feel.” In an on-stage interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk also apologized for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X that helped fuel an advertiser exodus. The comments come just two days after Musk visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with top leaders.Musk has faced accusations from the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights organization, and others of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last ye...

HUD sets sights on aldermanic prerogative, says practice 'disproportionately harms' minority neighborhoods

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

CHICAGO — The federal government has their sights set on Chicago's use of aldermanic prerogative.Investigators with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said Wednesday that the city has wrongly limited affordable housing by allowing members of City Council to reject developments in their wards.In a letter first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, a fair housing official wrote, in part:"... The City affords each of its fifty wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing, and that many majority-White wards use the local veto to block, deter, or downsize such proposals. As a result, new affordable housing is rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-White wards … By limiting the availability of affordable housing, the local veto disproportionately harms Black and Hispanic households."U.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentHUD officials said they want Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration to enter talks for an informal resolution to it's...

$350K donation helping to house migrants in Chicago churches

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

CHICAGO -- More than a dozen Chicago churches, with the help of a $350,000 donation, are helping to get asylum seekers off the streets.Pastor John Zayas and an army of volunteers at the Grace & Peace Church in Austin are focusing their energy on the dozens of migrants still sleeping at the Chicago’s 5th Police District.“They’re excited about getting on the bus. They’re excited about starting their lives and moving forward," Pastor John Zayas of the Grace & Peace Church said. Migrants battle cold as city looks to clear Chicago police stations But the news they haven’t learned yet is that they’re going someplace warm.“Today, we’re popping up a shelter for about 40 migrants," Pastor Justin Lake of the Life Center Church of God and Christ said.Pastor Justin Lake and his team from Life Center Church of God and Christ in Washington Park, among over 17 churches, stepping up for migrants.“We’re getting some supplies from toiletries to sheets and cots, and the whole thing enabling ...

When will thousands of students get bus service? CPS has few answers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

CHICAGO — More than three months into the school year — as freezing temperatures and snow descend on the City — 5,500 Chicago Public Schools students are still being denied bus transportation and are having to take the CTA or find another ride to school.“We are not writing-off this year,” CPS director of student transportation Kimberly Jones said on the WGN Evening News. However, Jones would not say when — or if — more students will get access to school bus transportation before the end of the school year. “We’re leaving no stone un-turned,” was her answer.General education students who attend selective enrollment and magnet schools and were previously given bus transportation are now offered free CTA passes instead. Even those who do receive bus service are enduring increasingly long commutes. The district acknowledges 116 students with disabilities are commuting more than an hour to get to and from school, compared to 47 students in August. More from Ben: Migrant camp in Brighto...

Family fighting over inheritance from sale of T. rex remains

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A legal battle is underway over the estate of the South Dakota couple who earned millions from the sale of Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex. In 1990, fossil hunters discovered Sue's massive skeleton on Maurice and Darlene Williams' property on the Cheyenne River Reservation in central South Dakota. Because of the location, people questioned who owned the rights to Sue, which led to years of court battles. Now, the controversy has shifted to who inherits what is left of the fortune created by the skeleton. Eventually, the Williams' were able to claim rights to the find. Then in 1997, Maurice and Darlene Williams made $7.6 million from the auction of Sue, who is still on display at Chicago's Field Museum. At 47 feet long, Sue is among the largest and best-preserved T. rex skeletons ever discovered. It was a popular national monument, until it was robbed to extinction Over a decade later, in 2011, Maurice Williams died. His wife, Darlene, then moved from their ra...

Armed Uber passenger taken into custody in Los Angeles after standoff

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:57:42 GMT

(KTLA) – Helicopter footage captured an hourslong standoff between Los Angeles police and an armed Uber passenger who refused to leave the vehicle Wednesday morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.The original 911 call came in around 7:35 a.m. PT, police said, when an Uber driver contacted LAPD to report a passenger in the vehicle with a gun. The driver managed to make it out of the vehicle safely, telling authorities that the armed passenger was refusing to exit.Responding officers surrounded the vehicle in the Mount Washington neighborhood on the city's northeastern side.LAPD in a standoff with an armed Uber passenger on Nov. 29, 2023. (Sky5)LAPD in a standoff with an armed Uber passenger on Nov. 29, 2023. (Sky5)LAPD in a standoff with an armed Uber passenger on Nov. 29, 2023. (Sky5)LAPD in a standoff with an armed Uber passenger on Nov. 29, 2023. (Sky5)A train was being held at the station, and an LAPD officer was seen speaking with the train's conductor. (Sk...