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Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral for 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was killed by a Los Angeles police officer while shopping with her mother at a North Hollywood store.

Valentina and her mother, Soledad Peralta, had been shopping for dresses on Dec. 23 and were in the changing room of a Burlington store when one of three rounds fired by Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. penetrated the wall and struck the girl, who died in her mother's arms.

Jones was firing at a man, later identified as Daniel Elena-Lopez, who had assaulted customers with a bicycle lock and was holding the lock at the time of the shooting, according to police body camera video of the incident.

Valentina's funeral will be Monday at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena.

Along with Sharpton, Refuge Senior Pastor Bishop Noel Jones and attorneys Ben Crump and Rahul Ravipudi, who represent her mother and father, will deliver what they term a "call to justice" in the child's shooting.

Crump has represented numerous families of people shot or killed by police, including George Floyd, whose May 2020 slaying by a Minneapolis police officer triggered global protests over policing.

Valentina's shooting has sparked outrage and spurred debate about police response in tense, crowded situations. Los Angeles City Council members have commented, along with experts on the use of force and advocates for the Latino community.

Police dispatchers that night received multiple, conflicting 911 calls about the assaults, some saying incorrectly that Elena-Lopez had a gun.

A video including surveillance and body camera footage and 911 calls was released last week by the LAPD. In it, Jones rushes past other police officers, one of whom shouts, "Hold up! Hold up!" Jones then stands over a bleeding woman who had been attacked by Elena-Lopez as the assailant moves away at the opposite end of an aisle.

Story continues

Jones fires three times, then the shrieks of a woman in a nearby fitting room fill the air.

Valentina and Elena-Lopez were both pronounced dead at the scene. The LAPD and the state Department of Justice are investigating.

President Biden offered his condolences to Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric during their first call last week.

In a brief statement posted on the White House website, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had "offered his deep condolences to the people of Chile for the tragic death" of Valentina, who was born in Santiago.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Boric acknowledged Biden's sympathy and noted that Valentina had been killed "at the hands of the United States police."

"We accompany her family in their pain," Boric continued, "and we pledge our support for justice."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Excerpt from:
Sharpton will deliver eulogy for 14-year-old girl killed by LAPD stray bullet - Yahoo News

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Named to TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People

Attorney Benjamin Crump (NNPA)

TIME named nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump to the 2021 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, making him the only personal injury trial lawyer to make the list.

Crump has established himself as one of the nations foremost lawyers and advocates for social and racialjustice.

In addition to working on some of the most high-profile cases in the U.S., representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, Crump has fought for justice for the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by poisoned water; Black women with ovarian cancer targeted by Johnson & Johnson to use talc products; and people who experienced discriminatory practices banking while Black by some of the nations largest banks.

He is the founder and principal owner ofBen Crump Law.

Ben Crump transcends and transforms the traditional role of a lawyer, said U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters.

He is not only having an impact on the culture both inside and outside the courtroom, but his advocacy is influencing corporate boardrooms and the highest levels of government.

Crump has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, and has been referred to as Black Americas Attorney General.

His book, published in October 2019,Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,documents how America is killing Black people, whether with a bullet or a lengthy prison sentence, and justifying it legally.

Its an honor to be recognized this way and to use any influence I have to bring about greater racial justice for all Americans, Crump said.

I am deeply grateful to every single person who has raised a voice to elevate our cries for equality, and I will continue to use any influence I have to make our laws, our justice system, and corporate America more just and free of systemic racism.

He released avideowith the family members of people killed by police, urging supporters to call their senators.

Ben is shining a light on racial injustice everywhere it exists, said Rev. Al Sharpton, who has called him Black Americas attorney general.

He is changing hearts and minds, practices and precedents, laws and lives.

The list, now in its eighteenth year, recognizes the impact, innovation and achievement of the worlds most influential individuals.

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Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Named to TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People - Lasentinel

Lets face it: Black men and boys are one of our nations most endangered species and always have been.

Each time I look at Americas government pinnacles the Capitol, the White House, and National Mall monuments I am reminded of the Black men whose hands built those magnificent structures and the perilous conditions under which they worked: their bodies used as human ladders; their comrades lost and buried below.

A nation built by Black men and boys should protect Black men and boys.

Last year, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of George Floyd, the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act was signed into law to counter the injustices that Black men and boys have endured from the periods of slavery and Jim Crow to present day. It is the most significant piece of civil rights legislation to become law since the Voting Rights Act.

On Nov. 9, 2021, the bipartisan Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys held its inaugural meeting at which the renowned Rev. Al Sharpton and I were elected to serve as Secretary and Chair, respectively. The Commissions 19 members include members of the Congressional Black Caucus, government officials, education and social justice experts, and others who represent a broad spectrum of political ideologies but are united in their overwhelming commitment to examining the challenges faced by Black men and boys and providing tangible, sustainable solutions.This is no ordinary commission. Its members will not simply study and write reports that then fall on deaf ears. We will travel the United States to meet with Black men and boys right where they are; visit prisoners on death row; and work with churches, fraternal organizations, and national organizations like the NFL, NAACP and National Action Network to engage them in the process. We will investigate potential civil rights violations and conduct methodical studies of the conditions affecting Black men and boys, including, but not limited to, homicide and incarceration rates, poverty, fatherhood, income disparities and school performance.

All of this our efforts to go beyond the traditional duties of a congressional commission will help our nations highest-ranking officials gain greater insight into the experiences of Black males.

Whether in society, health, education or other life scenarios, Black men and boys are forced to endure the adverse impacts of centuries-long inequities when compared to men and boys of other racial groups.

The New York Times reported in 2015 that 1.5 million Black men, who at that time would be between the ages of 25 and 54, had disappeared from daily life because of incarceration or death. The dropout rate among Black males between the ages of 16 and 24 is 8.7 percent, nearly twice the rate for white males. The prevalence of strokes is nearly 80 percent higher than it is for white men, and the stroke mortality rate is nearly 60 percent higher than that of white mens.

For these and many more reasons, the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys is stepping up to propose measures and policy recommendations that can remedy the underlying causes of disparate conditions.And, while Black men and boys are the Commissions primary focus, my fellow commissioners and I are confident that our work will ultimately uplift Black families and the Black community because Black children need strong, successful fathers and Black women need committed husbands and partners.

We declare 2022 the Year of Black Men and Boys.

Frederica S. Wilson represents Floridas 24th District.

Excerpt from:
2022: The year of Black men | TheHill - The Hill

Hello, its Thursday, Jan. 6, and here are the stories you shouldnt miss today:

How two different Americas see the Jan. 6 insurrection

Its been a year since the world watched angry Donald Trump supporters, some armed with Molotov cocktails and dressed in tactical gear, storm the nations Capitol and violently clash with police. Spurred on by then-President Trump, rioters had traveled from far and wide to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In the hours after the attack, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy seemed united as they spoke on the House floor. But over the last year, a chasm has grown between the two leaders over how to move forward. It is a divide that reflects a larger split in America, as more people seek to write and rewrite the history of last Jan. 6.

The lies that fueled the riot remain deeply embedded in American politics. Instead of providing a foundation for national unity, Jan. 6 became a launchpad for disinformation and new state laws to restrict access to the ballot box.

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More about the insurrection

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California extends its indoor mask mandate

California will extend its mask mandate for indoor public spaces for a month as the Omicron variant continues its rapid spread. Given the sharp recent rise in infections and hospitalizations, the mandate will be in place through at least Feb. 15.

The surge has affected first responders, as more than 1,000 police officers, firefighters and paramedics in the Los Angeles region were ill or at home quarantining Tuesday after testing positive for the coronavirus. And a growing number of public and private institutions in California are moving to temporary remote work and closing some offices.

More top coronavirus headlines

Stay up to date on variant developments, case counts and vaccine news with Coronavirus Today.

An airline broke an activists wheelchair. Her death months later amplified calls for change

The death of Engracia Figueroa, a Los Angeles activist whose wheelchair was broken by an airline, has amplified calls to fix a system that disabled activists have called archaic and dangerous.

Flying from Washington, D.C., Figueroa returned to L.A. to find that her motorized wheelchair a custom device that cost tens of thousands of dollars had been broken. At Los Angeles International Airport, she waited roughly five hours in a manual wheelchair that did not fit her body, which reopened an old sore, according to her attorney, Joshua Markowitz.

Whether the incident led directly to her death, as her attorney has argued, is poised to become the subject of litigation. Regardless of how her case might play out in court, Figueroas story has been infuriatingly familiar for many wheelchair users.

Judge rejects L.A. Countys bid to dismiss Vanessa Bryants lawsuit over crash photos

A federal judge Wednesday rejected an effort by Los Angeles County lawyers to dismiss Vanessa Bryants lawsuit over the handling of photos taken at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant. The lawsuit could go to trial as early as next month.

Vanessa Bryant sued the county in 2020, alleging that she and her family suffered severe emotional distress after learning that L.A. County sheriffs deputies snapped and later shared gruesome images of the crash scene where her husband, daughter Gianna and seven others died in January 2020.

Coastal residents sue L.A. over a massive sewage spill into Santa Monica Bay

More than 100 people living in and around El Segundo have filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, accusing it of exposing them to toxic hydrogen sulfide gas and other dangers during and after a sewage spill last year at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant.

In July, a backup caused by debris forced officials to use an emergency discharge procedure, sending a flood of raw sewage into Santa Monica Bay. The L.A. County Department of Public Health issued a health advisory and urged people to avoid swimming in the area.

For more than two weeks after the initial 17-million-gallon discharge, the damaged plant continued to release millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a Times investigation found.

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(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy for 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was killed by an LAPD officer. Valentinas funeral will be Monday at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena. The shooting has sparked outrage and spurred debate about police response in tense, crowded situations.

Rabbi who was shot in Poway synagogue attack is sentenced to prison for fraud. Yisroel Goldstein rose to national prominence after being wounded in an antisemitic shooting, and was then exposed as the perpetrator of multimillion-dollar fraud schemes. He was sentenced Tuesday to 14 months in prison.

A former San Diego State frat member sues the university over hazing allegations. The suit claims the school wrongly accused him of engaging in hazing while he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, a controversial fraternity that was shut down last year.

Nearly two dozen historic streetlights are missing from the Glendale-Hyperion bridge. The stolen lampposts were installed in 1926 and made of bronze, and no replacements are immediately available. The thefts have also continued despite an ongoing Los Angeles police investigation.

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Boy Scouts of America falls short in bid to emerge from sex-abuse bankruptcy. A $2.7-billion settlement offer failed to garner enough votes from thousands of men who say they were sexually abused in Scouting. Although 73% of the nearly 54,000 claimants who cast ballots voted to accept the settlement, the proposal needed at least 75%.

130 years after defying segregation, Plessy of separate but equal ruling to be pardoned. Louisianas governor posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black resident was arrested in an unsuccessful challenge to a Jim Crow law creating whites-only train cars.

March 2023 trial is set for the Florida condo collapse lawsuit. Thats about six months later than Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman had initially planned. But lawyers in the complex and unusual case said experts need more time to evaluate what caused the condominium building to fall and kill 98 people.

Grammy Awards postponed due to Omicron variant. The Recording Academy, which presents musics most prestigious awards show, said that holding the show on Jan. 31 simply contains too many risks and added that a new date would be announced soon.

Omicron also forces Sundance Film Festival to cancel in-person events. Instead of hosting red carpet premieres, parties and panel discussions in the traditional hub of Park City, the 2022 festival will now be mostly virtual for the second consecutive year.

Kanye West to headline 2022 Coachella festival. West (who now goes by Ye) is in the final stages of confirming festival-closing sets on consecutive Sundays, April 17 and 24.

As superstars cash in on vinyl LP boom, small labels and manufacturers struggle to meet demand. Buyers want way more records than pressing facilities in Southern California can supply. Thats true globally too: There arent enough manufacturers to meet the renewed demand, and too few workers available to run them.

After turning journalists into TV stars and millionaires, Richard Leibner signs off. Leibner, 82, the godfather of TV news agents, retired at the end of December after 58 years of representing many of the biggest names in the industry, including Diane Sawyer, Dan Rather, Mike Wallace and Norah ODonnell.

Fans wont be able to pump up the volume at UCLA basketballs long-awaited return. The game against Long Beach State comes with an unusually exclusive guest list: Only families of team members will be permitted inside Pauley Pavilion on Thursday afternoon for the Bruins first game in nearly a month.

Novak Djokovic was denied entry into Australia after his visa was canceled. The Australian Border Force issued a statement early Thursday local time saying Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet entry requirements and his visa has been subsequently canceled.

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The brazen, mind-boggling Republican revisionism regarding Jan. 6 never ends. The United States has an unfortunate tendency toward historical amnesia and denial, particularly when it comes to the bad behavior of white people, writes columnist Robin Abcarian.

Before-and-after images at the arch at Spooners Cove near Montaa de Oro State Park that collapsed during recent rains.

(Helena Yungbluth)

Decembers record-breaking storms provided a much-needed rain, but they also came at a cost. A beloved rock arch at Spooners Cove, along the coast of San Luis Obispo, crumbled in the recent rains, officials said.

Eric Hjelstrom, chief ranger for the San Luis Obispo Coast district of California State Parks, said the sandstone cliffs that line the area are home to many natural features. Theyre part of what gives you the allure of this part of California, he said. But time, rain and wind all take a toll, and the same force that creates the arch eventually destroys it.

January 1945: Comedian Charlie Chaplin, 55, in court during the Joan Berry paternity trial in Los Angeles.

(Los Angeles Times)

Seventy-seven years ago this week, Charlie Chaplin was embroiled in a paternity trial, which, as The Times reported later, exploded into one of Hollywoods biggest scandals. Chaplin was exonerated by a blood test of being the father of a baby girl born to Joan Berry. But the test was disputed and the trial went forward. The jury deadlocked, as The Times reported on Jan. 5, 1945, and a mistrial was declared.

The five jurors for the baby, of which I was one, said one juror in the 1945 report, did not question but that he was the father. The others, however, could not overlook the fact there was testimony showing she had been alone with Getty [Jean Paul Getty, multimillionaire oilman] and Ruesch [Hans Ruesch, former Hollywood writer] around the time she says she was with Chaplin. A retrial just three months later ended with a jury upholding Berrys claim, and the legendary comedian was ordered to pay $75 a week in child support.

We appreciate that you took the time to read Todays Headlines! Comments or ideas? Feel free to drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com. Elvia Limn, Laura Blasey, Amy Hubbard

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Today's Headlines: A year-old continuing war on truth - Los Angeles Times

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CHICAGO In a time when many preachers, teachers and police officers do not live in the neighborhood that they work in, Pastor Corey Brooks decided with his wife years ago that they would raise their children in Woodlawn, one of the toughest neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. With his talents and charisma, he could easily headline a megachurch in one of Chicagos affluent suburbs. However, the pastor knew, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, that "people dont care about how much you know until they know how much you care."

Scores of people have come through the South Side with their solutions or preconceived notions, including Rev. Al Sharpton, and nearly all have left, mystified. The only way for Brooks to truly understand the South Side and its distinct heartbeat was to become one with its people. The sacrifice he made was that he and his wife raised their children in an environment where they were exposed to things that most Americans never see in their lifetimes.

On the 45th day of his 100-day rooftop vigil to raise funds for a community center designed to transform the lives of local residents, the pastor met with his youngest son, Corey "Cobe" Brooks, a sophomore majoring in business and economics at Morehouse College. As the campfire burned brightly, the pastor asked his son, "How tough is growing up in this neighborhood?"

"I would say it was kind of very tough growing up in this neighborhood because there is not a lot of opportunity," Cobe said. "Besides the church, theres no real opportunity Theres nowhere for them to go work on homework or work on their craft or whatever theyre good at."

ELI STEELE: WORKING AMERICAN FIGHTS PANDEMIC, SUPPLY CHAIN AND INFLATION TO KEEP BUSINESS ALIVE

The pastor then asked his son what it was like to lose friends to violence.

"I lost six friends in the past five, six years. Its been very traumatizing, but it's also made me part of who I am today," Cobe said. "I feel like my mission is to bring opportunity to the community because if they had the certain opportunities that I had, they probably would never have been in the predicaments that they were in when they did pass away."

The pastor responded: "Even though you grew up in the same neighborhood, you grew up in the household with your mom, your dad, your brothers and sisters, a family unit. A lot of times these kids, unfortunately, all they have to depend on is their moms. The dads are sometimes locked up or wherever."

Cobe nodded in agreement: "And nine times outta 10, the mom is always at work. So they depend on themselves and their siblings. It's like theyre looking out for each other, to raise each other instead of parents. I didnt have the same story."

The pastor asked his son why so many of his friends joined gangs.

"Theres no real providers out here for them, no real protectors," answered Cobe, referring to the lack of parental authorities. "So they look to the guys on the block, the big brothers on the block, and thats their role models Thats all they see."

Cobe knows he was lucky that he had a father and a mother to look up to. He did not have to look to the streets for love, kinship and guidance the basic things every child hungers for no matter their address. That is why he passionately supports his fathers efforts to build a building for the Project H.O.O.D. community center in the Woodlawn neighborhood.

"I honestly think the community center would be one of the biggest things that will happen to this community," Cobe said. "I know it will open up plenty of jobs for everybody."

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He pointed out that while the center will have basketball courts and classes in dance and theater, its main focus will be on vocational training from carpentry to electrical for teens and adults as well as providing multiple outlets for younger kids to express themselves something that many of Cobes friends did not have while growing up.

"The community center would be devoted to really building opportunity for everybody in Chicago, more than just this one community," Cobe said.

He and his father know that a community center can never replace a parent, but it can provide children of the neighborhood with a powerful and viable alternative to gang life. After all, many children do not join gangs because they want to, but of out fear, life-preserving fear. The son and his father wish to transform that destructive fear into the pursuit of the American Dream, and that is how they will make their home a better home for all.

Follow along as Fox News checks in Pastor Corey Brooks each day with a new Rooftop Revelation.

For more information, please visitProject H.O.O.D.

Eli Steele is a documentary filmmaker and writer. His latest film is"What Killed Michael Brown?" Twitter:@Hebro_Steele.

Camera by Terrell Allen.

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Rooftop Revelations: Pastor Brooks' son discusses the hardships of growing up on Chicago's South Side - Fox News