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Some residents put pressure on Springfield City School board members Thursday night to say what happened to the black students accused of forcing white students to kneel on the playground at Kenwood Elementary in mid-February and say Black Lives Matter.

>> PREVIOUS: Watch what happens on playground at Kenwood Elementary in Springfield

Board President Chris Williams told those in attendance at the school board meeting that state and federal laws stop the board from releasing the names of the accused or releasing any other identifying information about them, such as an address.

All he could do, he said, was to read a statement about the incident in mid-February.

That didnt sit well with Mike Valley, who has no children enrolled in Springfield schools. He said the issue compelled him to speak to the board.

Its important that our kids go to school and not live in fear of being humiliated, he said. These children were humiliated.

No one asked for any personal information, Valley said. All he wanted to know was whether the accused were being held accountable.

News Center 7s Kayla McDermott asked board President Williams if the media or public are ever going to learn whether the accused children have been expelled or sent to detention.

All I can say is that there was discipline that was carried out, Williams said, also telling McDermott that he doesnt understand the upset surrounding the incident because it was an isolated incident.

>> PREVIOUS: Some seek discussion, not charges, after Black Lives Matter incident at Springfield school

Valley said the boards apparent lack of transparency was wrong.

The school board is governing from a position of fear. Fear makes you clam up, he said. Not talking about specific consequences shows other students that the behavior that occurred on the playground is OK, he said.

You are fomenting tribalism in the school only because they have to come together to have security because obviously the school isnt forming security for them, Valley said.

Story continues

Mike Valley, of Springfield, speaks with News Center 7's Kayla McDermott about the incident at Kenwood Elementary in mid-February.

News Center 7s McDermott said a parent she has been speaking with, whose child was one of those forced to kneel and utter Black Lives Matter that day, said he has heard the accused students were supposed to have been expelled.

But, he said, whether expulsion or detention was meted out has never been confirmed to him.

McDermott will have more tonight, after the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament games.

See the rest here:
Springfield board pressured to reveal punishment for Black Lives Matter incident on playground - Yahoo News

Dozens of people are set to testify during a trial of an ex-Fort Hood soldier who is accused of shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester in downtown Austin nearly three years ago.

Sgt. Daniel Perry, 35, who was stationed at Fort Hood at that time, was working as a rideshare driver on the night of July 25, 2020, when during a Black Lives Matter protest, he shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster. Foster was armed with an assault-style rifle at the time.

Well start picking a jury on Monday unless something happens between now and then, said Clint Broden, Perrys defense attorney who spoke with the Herald this week. Sgt. Perry is looking forward to clearing his name and being vindicated.

Travis County court records show the trial is set to begin on Monday in the 147th Judicial District Court, over which Judge Cliff Brown presides. Perry is charged with murder and a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.

He is no longer stationed at Fort Hood.

The Army moved him to Alaska for his own safety, Broden said.

In addition to the criminal case, Perry also is facing a civil lawsuit filed last May in state district court. Fosters family filed the lawsuit against Uber and Perry that has not yet been resolved.

Foster was an Air Force veteran who was a full-time caretaker for his fiancee who is confined to a wheelchair, according to previous reporting by the Austin American-Statesman.

SELF DEFENSE?

Witnesses told police that a man, who now is known to be Perry, drove through a crowd of protesters but did not strike anyone gathered for the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin on July 25, 2020. People in the crowd including the man now known to be Foster then surrounded his vehicle. Foster approached his driver side window and motioned with an assault-style rifle for him to roll the window down, Broden said, previously.

Broden said hid client initially believed the person was associated with law enforcement and complied with the command. However, Perry soon realized that the person was not a police officer.

Foster allegedly pointed the rifle at Perry, who then shot him out of fear for his life, according to the attorney. Perry was then shot at and immediately drove to safety and called the police.

Some witnesses at the scene told police that Foster did not point his rifle at Perry, according to Statesman reports, but ultimately it will be up to a jury to decide on the evidence.

A jury will be deciding this case in the safety and comfort of a courtroom, but if they can put themselves in Sgt. Perrys place and understand what it felt like for a mob to surround his vehicle, pounding on it, and then a masked man comes charging up with an assault rifle, Broden said. Sgt. Perry used a handgun to protect himself because he couldnt move his vehicle and that made him a sitting duck. I think any fair-minded person would have done the same thing.

Court records show that subpoenas have been issued by the state and the defense to at least 100 people, including many members of the Austin Police Department and protesters who were at the scene.

These protesters did similar things to other people during that same timeframe, Broden said. About three weeks prior, a mob surrounded the car of Logan Buckman (who has been subpoenaed to testify) and he pulled out a handgun to defend himself from the mob attacking his car. No one approached his car with an assault rifle so he was able to get away.

Perry was indicted on July 1, 2021, on charges of murder, aggravated assault and deadly conduct. Although initially charged as a felony, on July 16, 2021, the deadly conduct charge was transferred to county court, which decides misdemeanor cases. Following the indictment, Perry turned himself in to the Austin Police Department and was released the same day after posting a $300,000, bond, according to the Statesman.

Read more from the original source:
Trial set to begin in case of soldier accused of murdering BLM protester - The Killeen Daily Herald

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots of 2020 were the largest and most successful shakedown in American history. These mostly peaceful protests which burned more than 200 American cities and wreaked more than $2 billion in damages achieved more than anyone could have predicted: changes in laws, private sector policies, and perhaps most importantly, a historic transfer of wealth to racial and leftwing causes. As a result, American corporations gave or pledged more than $83 billion to either BLM or BLM-related causes.

We created a database tracking contributions and pledges made to the BLM movementand related causes, which we define as organizations and initiatives that advance one or more aspects of BLMs agenda, and which were made in the wake of the BLM riots of 2020. To date, our data spans more than 400 companies and $83 billion in pledges and contributions.

The famed consulting firm McKinsey and Company thinks the number is far larger. They calculated that from May 2020 to October 2022 companies pledged about $340 billion to racial equity, specifically for Black Americans after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Our number is conservative by comparison. But unlike McKinsey, we provide details about the pledges and contributions of specific companies.

We are surprised at some of the incredulity in our calculations. So too is BLM, which suggests that objections to wealth transfers of this scale are rooted in white supremacy, and a pathology that Black organizations dont deserve to be funded.

BLM called for reparations. In a sense, they succeeded, as these reparations were paid out to BLM itself (approximately $122 million) and to its vast NGO archipelago and other racialized causes and schemes under various names.

While the money was given or pledged in different ways, it was unmistakable for so-called racial justice. Sometimes this meant cash transfers to partners of BLM, like the Color of Change,the NAACP, the Equal Justice Initiative, and theACLU.

Sometimes it meant cash or pledges to other reparative initiatives including race-based, discriminatory hiring programs; race-based, sub-prime lending; race-based scholarships; and partisan voter initiatives. Sometimes it meant Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which are the polite versions of BLM calibrated to middle-class, middle-management tastes. The DEI ideology disagrees with BLM in few ways, if any.

DEI and BLM share one mission: to punish white America, through different means. The latter through riots and pressure campaigns, the former through preferential hiring and promotion of members of protected groups. Both aim to redistribute honor, privileges, and money to black Americans. Both are extorting special privileges and money by using white guilt.

Moreover, both are attempting to do so by cultural revolution, and both stand openly against meritocracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and individual rights. Correctly understood, DEI is an expression of BLMs broader agenda.

We already know the exorbitant amount of money given or pledged by large banks like JPMorgan ($30 billion), Bank of America ($18 billion), and Silicon Valley Bank ($70 million) in the wake of the 2020 BLM riots to subsidized and sub-prime race-based lending, race-based investment targeting, supply chain diversity initiatives, and nonprofits advancing racial justice.

But BLM was so effective that even seemingly middle-America companies shelled out big. For example, Cargill, the Minnesota-based food producer, launched its Black Farmer Equity Initiative, a redistributive program that attributes declining numbers of black farmers to the legacy of systemic racism and seeks to dismantle Anti-Black racism and operationalize equity across the food and agriculture system. Cargill pledged $11 billion to the initiative through 2030.

Kroger, a ubiquitous neighborhood grocery chain, spent at least $13 million to advance racial division, including $5 million toward its Framework for Action: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative and a $500,000 contribution to LISCs Black Economic Development Fund, a discriminatory investment fund that promotes BLM. Kroger also partnered with the discriminatory, race-based hiring platform OneTen, which aims to hire, promote, and advance one million Black individuals who do not have a four-year degree into family-sustaining careers over the next ten years.

Caterpillar, the producer of heavy equipment, donated $500,000 each to the NAACP and the Equal Justice Initiative. It too partnered with OneTen. John Deere donated $1 million to the NAACP, again, an official partner of BLM.

Defense contractors, traditionally neutral and dedicated to keeping America safe, also submitted to BLMs demands. Northrop Grumman donated $1 million to the NAACP and an additional $1 million to organizations promoting social justice as part of an employee charitable gift matching program. It also partnered with OneTen.

Raytheon pledged $25 million over five years to advance racial justice, empowerment, and career readiness in underserved communities. The commitment includes donations to the NAACP, Equal Justice Initiative, and National Urban League; community outreach; public policy lobbying; and a supplier diversity initiative.

Boeing pledged a minimum of $25 million by 2023 toward racial equity and social justice. In 2020, it contributed $15.6 million to organizations addressing racial inequity, including $1 million to the Equal Justice Initiative.

The list goes on, and should be further explored by journalists in order to understand the full extent of the shakedown. By caving to BLM, American companies not only became the tools of radicals but also laid the groundwork for future violence and extortion.

The Center for the American Way of Life is a branch of The Claremont Institute. The mission of The Claremont Institute is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life.

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BLM Executed A Historic Shakedown Of American Corporations - The Federalist

More than 15 million Americans protested across the country after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. Thousands demonstrated in Richmond that year to demand changes in policing pointing to the killing of Marcus-David Peters by a Richmond police officer.

The base of the now-removed Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue became the central location for protestors calling for a reexamination of policing practices used in response to people in the midst of a mental health crisis.

In 2018, a Richmond police officer shot and killed Marcus-David Peters. The 24-year-old Black, high-school biology teacher was undressed and unarmed when he was shot. The officer who shot Peters, ten-year veteran Michael Nyantakyi, was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The incident sparked outrage and was the impetus for legislation to address how police respond to mental health calls.

Marcus-David Peters sister Princess Blanding, who is an educator turned activist, worked with lawmakers to pass the Marcus-David Peters Act in 2020. It established the Marcus Alert System, which was intended to encourage coordination between 911 and regional crisis call centers and create a specialized behavioral health response from police when responding to a behavioral health situation.

We don't call on a construction worker to perform heart surgery. So, why are we calling our police officers to deal with mental illness? Blanding asked.

The original version of the Marcus Alert System called for us to create community care teams which had a mental health professional, a peer recovery specialist, and a police officer standing in back, Blanding explained as she pointed to recent efforts to roll back the law.

In 2022, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill that allowed localities with a population of fewer than 40,000 to opt-out of implementing the Marcus Alert. Legislators cited funding and behavioral worker shortages as reasons smaller localities may not have the capacity to fulfill the law.

Blanding worries about what she sees as efforts to roll-back the Marcus-David Peters Act and stresses the need to address long-standing issues of mistrust regarding police.

We see time and time again, from George Floyd to Brianna Taylor, to Tamir Rice to Marcus-David Peters, Blanding listed a few of the names of Black people killed by police. To my other brother, who was recently killed by a police officer.

Blanding, who is one of 16 children, is now mourning the loss of a second sibling. New Jersey police shot and killed her 19-year-old brother Joshua Mathis in January. Police body camera video shows Mathis holding a knife and running toward officers before being shot. The incident is under investigation.

The Marcus Alert program is now operating in five Virginia localities - one in each region of the state including Richmond, Virginia Beach, Prince William County and cities and counties served by the Rappahannock-Rapidan and Highland Community Services Boards. The remaining cities and counties that have yet to implement the system and are too large to opt-out, have until July 2026 to implement the Marcus Alert.

In the meantime, Blanding, who ran for Governor of Virginia in 2021, continues to advocate for change. She thinks reforms; such as implementing civilian review boards and removing qualified immunity for officers, which allows them protection from civil lawsuits; could be a step in the right direction.

Blanding also supports Governor Youngkins calls for additional mental health service funding.

Invest it in those proactive measures, Blanding said. Invest it in those professionals, who can be the correct responders to the early signs of a mental health crisis.

In Chesterfield County, the police department isnt waiting for legislative reforms. Its been working on improving community care for decades.

Police Chief Jeffery Katz said the way to build trust is to focus on building relationships within the community.

Its important for people to see us as partners and as advocates, as opposed to an occupying force, Katz said.

Police officer Justin Abshier has been with the Chesterfield County Police Department for five years and recently joined the Community Engagement Unit, a team of nine officers who focus exclusively on building relationships within the community.

In community engagement, our goal is to address those underlying problems, Abshier said. And see if we can reduce the crime or the call volume in certain areas by working with the community to do outside the box problem solving.

The Community Engagement Unit works with local organizations and professionals to figure out ways to address chronic social issues like food insecurity, unemployment, and homelessness.

The chief hopes the positive engagement can help combat mistrust of the police.

Because theres so many negative messages out there about police, its incumbent upon us to make sure that we engage as many people as possible, before they need help, Katz said. So that they feel comfortable and safe reaching out to us so that we can provide them assistance in their time of need.

Katz said the Chesterfield Police Department and local mental health professionals already have a strong working relationship and hopes they can continue to work together to provide services the community needs.

When somebody calls that is in crisis, our interaction with them should be as minimal as possible. Katz said. We should be able to take them to a resource center and get them treatment as fast as possible. That is not happening right now. That needs to change.

Chief Katz pointed to what he called a broken mental health care system. He argued the system currently doesnt have the capacity to respond to those in need.

Chesterfield County has not yet implemented the Marcus Alert System. The chief says there are successful co-response models in the country, but he warns that the recent reforms may not be the best approach.

The reflexive reform efforts of the last couple years have not made our community safer, Katz said. I think its important that we go back to the drawing board, and we evaluate from an informed perspective how we can all work together to improve our criminal justice system to enhance public safety.

The chief speaks to law enforcement leaders from around the world about the importance of building trust within a community.

He said, while his department in Chesterfield County is still a work in progress, he hopes other jurisdictions will implement similar community engagement efforts.

Here is the original post:
Policing reforms after Black Lives Matter demonstrations - VPM News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Drag Queen Storytime is increasing security for an upcoming weekend event in Louisville over heightened safety concerns.

The LGBTQ+ nonprofit is hosting a "Reading with Pride" event, featuring Louisville Drag Queen Miss Diana Rae, at the No Kill Louisville Animal Rescue & Pet Food Bank on Sunday, March 26

In a social media post, event organizers said they were notified that White Lives Matter plans to travel to Kentucky to protest the event in hopes of scaring guests.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the group a neo-Nazi organization created as "a racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter."

Screenshots from the Kentucky White Live Matter Official Telegram channel, provided by the nonprofit, show the group plans to "make our visibility known" at the event.

In response, Drag Queen Storytime says rather than canceling the event, they plan to increase security.

"This group is hoping to intimidate and scare us into canceling our event," officials said on Facebook. "Let's be perfectly Queer about this. We will not be canceling our event. We will make ourpresence known."

Drag Queen Storytime says there will be more security at the event to protect guests and say the event venue is gated and on private property.

Another Louisville nonprofit,the Parasol Patrol, also plans to attend the event on Sunday to shield guests from anticipated protestors.

"We are calling our community. Please show up!" Drag Queen Storytime said. "We will NOT HIDE from anyone."

On Wednesday, another LGBTQ+ event in eastern Kentucky canceled its drag fundraiser due to threats of violence from extremists.

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'We will not hide'; Drag Queen Storytime increases event security after threats from White Lives Matter - WHAS11.com