Two concealed carriers in a Polk County, Florida, Dollar General Store, pulled their firearms and held a knife-wielding woman for police, Sheriff Grady Judd said on Wednesday.
The post Concealed Carriers Stop Alleged Knife Rampage in Dollar General appeared first on Breitbart.
Major U.S. and international airline groups are pushing back against a new Ebola-related travel requirement that will affect millions of people flying into the United States.
Beginning Nov. 3, all passengers on international flights to the U.S. will have to confirm that they have not been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the previous 21 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The requirement applies to everyone flying into or connecting through the U.S. — including American citizens, green card holders and airline crew members, the CDC said.
US ISSUES URGENT TRAVEL WARNING AS DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK SPREADS OVERSEAS
Travelers will have to complete a paper or digital statement before boarding, even if they have never visited the DRC.
Airlines must collect the forms and keep them for at least 42 days after the flight arrives in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Airlines for America (A4A), which represents major carriers including American, Delta, Southwest, United and JetBlue, is asking the CDC to reconsider the requirement and give airlines more time to prepare, according to an Oct. 26 letter provided to Fox News Digital.
The group said it supports the CDC's public health goals but argued that the new requirement is too broad and is being introduced too quickly.
A4A asked the government for a "more proportionate and measured U.S. response" focused more closely on affected areas and travelers who have recently been there.
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The group also asked for the Nov. 3 start date to be delayed.
"Changes to check-in systems, digital signatures, station procedures and training cannot readily be completed in the allotted time," A4A wrote.
Dr. Tyler Evans, a California-based infectious disease physician and CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, told Fox News Digital, "This was a step in the right direction, given the fact that we really do have to take this seriously. We have to ensure that this does not cross borders."
He added, "This is the second-largest outbreak of Ebola in history. So this is very serious."
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents more than 370 airlines around the world, has also asked the CDC to reconsider the requirement, Reuters reported.
"It is unreasonable for the U.S. government to require all airlines serving the U.S. market to modify their procedures to accommodate the collection of attestations from each individual (passenger and crew) flying to the United States in less than two weeks," IATA wrote in a letter, according to Reuters.
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A4A is also asking the CDC to exempt airline crew members, arguing that existing aviation documents already contain information about crews and their travel.
The group has requested an exemption for U.S. military passenger charters as well, saying the military already tracks service members' health, safety and whereabouts.
The CDC said the requirement is intended to reduce the risk of Ebola entering the United States through air travel.
The 21-day period reflects the maximum amount of time it can take for symptoms to appear after exposure.
Anyone who has been in the DRC during that period, including travelers who only passed through an airport there, will not be allowed to board a U.S.-bound flight unless they have a government exemption, the CDC said.
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"Some of the initial symptoms would just be flu-like symptoms. You'll have a high-grade fever, you'll feel sort of fatigued," the doctor said.
"[For] people that ... are asymptomatic, being able to screen is a very effective modality to reduce, to prevent or mitigate further transmission," Evans said.
Evans worked on the Ebola response twice in the past, both in West Africa and in the DRC, the two largest outbreaks in history.
"The reality is Ebola is one of the most infectious and has one of the highest case fatality rates of infectious diseases," Evans said.
But Americans often don't view Ebola as being relevant to them, he said. "When it comes to infectious diseases ... microbes don't sort of respect boundaries."
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Travelers who knowingly provide false information could face prosecution and fines, according to the CDC.
Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC and IATA for further information and comment.
A Sullivan County judge heard oral arguments Thursday to determine whether New York Attorney General Letitia James should be removed as special prosecutor in the reopened criminal investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University.
The proceeding ended without an immediate ruling from Judge James Farrell.
The hearing stems from a challenge filed by defense attorney Andrew Miltenberg, who represents Gillio Lopes, one of the men accused in the case.
Lopes is one of seven former Chi Phi fraternity brothers who are accused in a lawsuit of drugging and raping a female Cornell student at their fraternity house in October 2024.
LETITIA JAMES FACES NEW PUSH TO BOOT HER FROM CORNELL RAPE PROBE OVER ALLEGED BIAS: COURT DOCUMENTS
Defense counsel argued that social media comments posted by James prior to her official appointment as "special prosecutor" demonstrate a pre-existing bias and a presumption of guilt that undermines the prosecution's neutrality.
"What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable," James had posted on social media. "I’m holding her in my heart and in my prayers. To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand with you."
TISH JAMES CONFRONTED ON CAMERA OVER TRUMP'S ACCUSATION OF BIAS IN CORNELL RAPE CASE
Arguing before the court, Miltenberg pointed to those public declarations of support as proof of a pre-determined bias.
"Whether it affects all or just one, either the court determines the statements made by AG James take her out of contention to be neutral party reviewing case or not," Miltenberg argued, calling the initial public statements an "original sin" for the case.
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In a statement sent to Fox News on Thursday, a spokesperson for James' office said, "As indicated in our motion before the court, these claims are without merit. The Office of the Attorney General remains committed to conducting an investigation guided only by the facts, the evidence, and the law."
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Representing the state, Assistant Attorney General Kaitlin Vigars defended Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of James and pushed back against the disqualification effort, emphasizing that public statements alone do not meet the legal threshold for removal.
Vigars argued that to warrant disqualification, there needs to be a showing of actual prejudice rather than speculative claims of bias.
CORNELL SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE REVIVES SCRUTINY OF A LITTLE-KNOWN NEW YORK LAW ON INTOXICATED VICTIMS
Farrell peppered Vigars with questions about the circumstances leading up to James’ appointment, including if Hochul was aware of James’ social media comment, if James and Hochul were standing together when the governor made remarks about the "brave young woman," if that runs afoul of professional conduct, and if the purpose of appointing the AG was to avoid bias.
Farrell also raised broader procedural concerns during the arguments, noting the potential for conflicting legal rulings if challenges proceed piecemeal across jurisdictions.
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"If multiple judges come down with decisions that’s chaos," Farrell said from the bench, "and the court should not fashion chaos."
Hochul appointed James as special prosecutor on Oct. 1 after stepping in to bypass the local Tompkins County district attorney, who had previously declined to bring charges.
CORNELL RAPE ACCUSER CAN REMAIN 'JANE DOE'; JUDGE WARNS THREATS COULD LEAD TO FEDERAL CHARGES
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With no decision rendered at the conclusion of Thursday's arguments, the judge is expected to issue a formal written ruling in the coming days on whether James will remain as special prosecutor or if the investigation must be reassigned.
Hochul later said on Thursday that all sexual offense complaints at Cornell University are now being referred to New York State Police, rather than Cornell University Police, unless otherwise requested by that individual.
"Every student deserves to feel safe on their campus," she said in a statement, in part. "And when someone reports sexual assault, they deserve to be heard, treated with compassion, and know their allegations will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated by law enforcement trained to support survivors.
"What Jane Doe described is horrifying. Survivors should be able to trust the institutions responsible for protecting them. We cannot afford to let them down."
The era of the standard $99 airline credit card may be fading as American Airlines becomes the latest major carrier to adjust its price tag.
Beginning Jan. 24, 2027, the annual fee for both the Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard and the Citi/AAdvantage Business MasterCard will jump from $99 to $150, according to a company press release.
The adjustment marks the first price hike for the popular Platinum Select consumer card since 2018, signaling a shift in the travel rewards landscape.
MAJOR AIRLINE DITCHES SNACKS DURING SHORT FLIGHTS AS ‘ZERO SERVICE’ SPARKS DEBATE
To soften the blow of a nearly 52% fee increase, American Airlines, Citi and MasterCard are adding several new travel and lifestyle perks.
Whether those additions make up for the $51 increase will depend largely on how travelers use the card, Nick Ewen, editor-in-chief of The Points Guy, told Fox News Digital.
"You have to look at the real dollar value based on your own travel habits," said Ewen, who is based in Florida.
Cardholders will gain additional ways to earn AAdvantage miles on everyday spending, along with up to $120 toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees every four years, American Airlines confirmed.
Additionally, a new $100 annual statement credit for in-flight purchases will replace the previous 25% food and beverage discount.
This makes the card significantly more rewarding for travelers, as the credit can be applied toward broad in-flight expenses, including Wi-Fi, which was explicitly excluded under the old discount system.
For someone who regularly spends money aboard American flights or already pays for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, Ewen said the new credits could help offset the higher annual fee.
"If the answer is yes, you're definitely going to come out ahead," he said of travelers who typically spend up to $100 on in-flight purchases each year.
PASSENGER JET BOUND FOR US PLUNGES 27,000 FEET BEFORE CIRCLING FOR HOURS
The changes may not be for everyone, however.
"If you're only flying American once a year, you may not be able to stomach that additional increased annual fee," he said.
The changes also include adjustments to how cardholders can rack up rewards on everyday purchases, according to the press release.
The personal Platinum Select card will offer three miles per dollar on eligible AAdvantage Hotels and Cars bookings and two miles per dollar on gas and EV charging, select streaming services, and eligible Rides and Rails purchases.
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Existing perks — including preferred boarding, no foreign transaction fees and a free first checked bag on domestic American itineraries for the cardholder and up to four companions — will remain intact.
Ewen said the higher fee follows a broader shift among airline rewards cards.
"American is far from the first airline that we've seen this increase in their annual fees," he said, pointing to similar changes from Delta, Southwest and United.
Entry-level airline cards that once hovered around $100 annually are increasingly moving closer to $150, Ewen said.
"This is definitely the norm, although it's not universal across the board," he added.
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The move by American Airlines aligns with a broader trend sweeping the credit card sector.
Over the past few years, the travel rewards market has seen steady fee inflation as issuers pack mid-tier and premium cards with statement credits and subscription services.
Financial institutions are betting consumers will accept higher upfront costs in exchange for tangible, use-it-or-lose-it perks, transforming traditional flight-focused credit cards into broader lifestyle products, according to reports.
The changes drew mixed reactions from cardholders online.
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"Call me crazy, but none of this is an upgrade," one Reddit user commented.
Another questioned the value of the new in-flight credit.
"These inflight credit[s] [are] annoying," the person wrote. "They don't even stock them except for longer flights."
Others were more receptive to the new benefits, with one commenter pointing to the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit as a reason the higher fee could be worthwhile.
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"This has become more of a respectable airline card in my opinion now with this refresh," one user wrote.
The police investigation into a TikTok livestream in which a child with Down syndrome was encouraged to perform indecent acts has been completed, with the case file now before the attorney-general’s office to determine whether criminal charges should be brought.
According to Reporter, police sources confirmed that the cybercrime unit had concluded its investigation and forwarded the evidence to the Law Office for examination.
The attorney-general will decide whether the evidence establishes criminal offences and, if so, whether to instruct the prosecution of those involved. Alternatively, the case could be closed if insufficient evidence is found, or returned to police for further investigation or clarification.
The incident sparked widespread outrage in July, although the video had reportedly been posted approximately two months earlier. It showed TikTok users allegedly encouraging a child with Down syndrome to expose himself during a livestream.
As previously reported by the Cyprus Mail, three people were arrested on July 23 in connection with the incident, but all were subsequently released.
Two women were brought before the Nicosia district court, which rejected a police request to remand them in custody. A third suspect, arrested later that day, was released following questioning.
The case had prompted criticism of the police response, particularly after disability organisations questioned why those allegedly involved had not been identified sooner.
In July, the Cyprus Confederation of Organisations of the Disabled (Kysoa) accused the authorities of failing to act promptly, with its president, Themis Anthopoulou, questioning how members of the public could identify those involved when police had reportedly been unable to do so for weeks.
Kysoa also condemned the public humiliation of the child, describing the incident as abuse, and urged social media users to stop circulating the footage to prevent further violations of the child’s dignity and privacy.
A hidden problem is surfacing regarding certain pilots' behavior.
More than three in four pilots reported having at least one "microsleep" while operating an aircraft in recent weeks, according to a report by aviation consultancy Baines Simmons based on responses from 7,200 pilots across 32 European countries.
The findings were published by the European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents over 44,000 pilots across Europe, according to a press release.
HOW MUCH REST SHOULD FLIGHT ATTENDANTS GET? NEW PROPOSAL IGNITES FIGHT IN THE SKIES
The concerns extend beyond brief episodes of sleep in the cockpit. Nearly 39% of pilots said they usually or always did not get enough rest to keep fatigue from building up, according to the report.
The findings also raised questions about whether pilots feel comfortable reporting when they are too tired to fly.
Only 37.2% said they typically report when they are too fatigued to fly, while 24.2% said they do not report it and fly anyway, according to the findings.
"When pilots fear career consequences, fatigue goes unreported, and the risk returns to the cockpit," Capt. Coen George, an ECA board director, said in the press release.
He warned that the reluctance to speak up could leave airlines unaware of how widespread fatigue is among their crews.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented stricter pilot rest and duty requirements in 2012 to address fatigue and improve safety, the agency said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Under the rules, pilots must receive at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before a flight duty period, including an opportunity for eight uninterrupted hours of sleep. Pilots who feel fatigued or unfit to fly must report it and be removed from duty by the airline, according to the FAA.
Pilot fatigue can be particularly challenging when crews work overnight or travel across multiple time zones.
Matthew "Whiz" Buckley, a former U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot who later flew for American Airlines and FedEx, previously told Fox News Digital that having scheduled time off does not necessarily mean a pilot gets enough sleep.
"It's just unnatural to sleep during off-hours," Buckley said.
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Pilots may arrive at a hotel early in the morning and then have to sleep during the day, while long-haul flights can further disrupt normal sleep patterns, Buckley said.
"Where it really takes a toll on the body for pilots is east-west," he said. "When you're crossing multiple time zones, [that's] when your body can really get messed up."
Buckley also emphasized that pilots ultimately have to assess whether they're rested enough to safely operate an aircraft.
"At the end of the day ... you know who determines if a pilot is fit to fly? You," Buckley said.
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Having nearly "77% of respondents [in the new survey] say that they reported micro-sleeping or dozing off while at work is definitely an alarming number, and the industry does need to take note of this," Bobby Laurie, a Pennsylvania-based travel expert and former flight attendant, told Fox News Digital.
"But it's not necessarily a warning sign that the flight that you've been on had a pilot or both pilots asleep."
He said that while there are things the industry can do to "rectify this problem," travelers, too, should take note of a few things.
"If you find yourself at the airport, and the departure board is saying you're delayed due to crew rest … you need to realize that the delay is posted for safety reasons. You might not have gotten to your destination in one piece if those crew members did not get the rest they needed," he said.
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Fox News Digital previously reported that rest requirements for flight attendants have faced scrutiny in the U.S.
The FAA recently proposed a nationwide rule that would prevent state and local governments from setting separate meal and rest-break requirements for flight attendants and pilots.
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Major flight attendant unions opposed the proposal, arguing that some crew members already work for hours without enough opportunities to eat, drink or use the restroom.
Fox News Digital reached out to Baines Simmons and Flight Safety Foundation for comment.
The economy may be going to hell in a handcart, but at least John Healey has cut 6p from the daily supermarket bill. That will make all the difference to beleaguered households, says Alexander McKibbin.
The post The Chancellor’s 6p Per Day Supermarket Bill Saving Will Make All the Difference appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
© Doug Mills/The New York Times; Frederick Breedon/Getty Images for Pure Flix
Improving polls for Labour are bound to lead to feverish speculation about a snap election. But if Burnham is tempted, what just happened in British Columbia might change his mind, says Mark Littlewood.
The post British Columbia Shows the Risks of a Snap Election appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Trump administration has encouraged former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to run for UN secretary-general and discussed a joint US-Russia-China candidacy with Moscow and Beijing, the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) editorial board wrote on 25 October, citing sources in three countries. Russia’s biggest ally in the EU, Orbán has been out of office since May, when Péter Magyar became Hungary’s prime minister.
The UN secretary-general can influence the war through diplomatic negotiations, mediation, and by drawing the Security Council’s attention to Russia’s aggression. António Guterres’s term ends on 31 December, so the council has to settle on a successor within weeks.
According to the WSJ, US officials discussing the next UN chief kept saying they wanted “someone like Orbán,” and their Russian and Chinese counterparts agreed. The US then brought the idea to Orbán himself. Russia and China are believed to support his bid based on those earlier talks with Washington, and the plan is for him to be the three countries’ joint candidate.
Orbán is receptive but has not decided, and he does not want to enter the race unless he is sure he can win, the editorial board wrote. A State Department official counted eight Security Council votes as safe for him and 10 within reach. A candidate needs nine of the 15 votes and no veto from a permanent member. The editorial board asked whether Britain and France, typically cautious in using their veto, would stand in the way. Any announcement is being held until after the 3 November US midterm elections.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that Orbán as secretary-general would put to good use “the masterful veto and blackmail skills” he developed over years of derailing major EU decisions. Ukraine, he added, could share its “great experience of taking him out for coffee at the right moment,” a reference to the December 2023 EU summit, where Orbán left the room so the other leaders could open accession talks with Ukraine without his veto.
Orbán’s 16 years of “illiberal democracy” eroded democratic values in Hungary. Since 2010, Fidesz has built an enormous partisan media ecosystem. Before the vote, it amended the electoral law twice and gerrymandered more than a third of the electoral districts, so the opposition might need around 55% of the popular vote to win a simple majority. Orbán still lost the 12 April election. Magyar’s Tisza won 138 of 199 seats, a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Orbán kept close ties with Moscow throughout the full-scale war. When he met Putin in Beijing in October 2023, he spoke of “the military operations and the sanctions” rather than a war. In summer 2024, while Hungary held the EU Council presidency, he flew to Moscow on what he called a peace mission, and the EU distanced itself from the trip. In November 2025, he went back to Moscow, seeking to keep Hungary’s access to Russian oil and gas. He is widely considered Putin’s closest partner among EU leaders. After that visit, he said the only solution was for Ukraine to become a buffer state again, and that the longer peace was delayed, the more people and territory Ukraine would lose.
He used Hungary’s veto against Ukraine until his last weeks in office. In February, Orbán vetoed a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine amid the disruption of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. Hungary lifted its veto in April after repairs to the pipeline were announced. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó phoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from EU meetings for years with “live reports on what’s been discussed,” a European security official told The Washington Post. Szijjártó did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
Dollar General is facing fresh federal scrutiny over its pricing practices.
The US Federal Trade Commission said Monday it has filed a lawsuit, along with 20 states, accusing the discount retailer of deceptive pricing on its shelves, price tags, and advertisements.
"Dollar General has, for years, repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge of the problem," the FTC said in a statement.
The company operates more than 21,000 US stores and typically serves customers in more rural and low-income areas of the country.
The filings say Dollar General has received tens of thousands of complaints from shoppers who said they did not receive an advertised price and that the company failed to adequately address the problem.
As a result, Dollar General received millions of dollars from overcharging customers, the FTC alleged.
In a statement, Dollar General said it will defend the lawsuit while remaining open to discussing a resolution.
"The lawsuit filed today by the Federal Trade Commission and several States suggests that we have abandoned our mission and willfully disregarded the affordability needs of our customers. Nothing could be further from the truth," the statement said.
Dollar General said its goal is accuracy between shelf and register prices. When discrepancies occur, store teams are expected to make things right for customers.
The company said it cooperated with the investigation since February, producing documents, data, and testimony. The FTC and the company had exchanged potential remedies when the lawsuit was filed, the company said.
The action comes less than two weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James reached a settlement of nearly $1.9 million in food and personal items as a civil penalty for overcharging shoppers in the state. New York did not join the FTC's complaint.
US consumers have been particularly worried about fairness in retail pricing as more stores introduce digital price tags. Both Walmart and Target have issued public statements promising price transparency and consistency online and at the register. Home Depot recently did the same.
© Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Portugal’s Attorney General has called on parliament today to review the 1974 legislation governing the right to demonstrate, declining to refer the law to the Constitutional Court (TC) for review.
The post Attorney General challenges parliament to change law on demonstrations appeared first on Portugal Resident.
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Earlier this week, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said that the police shooting of 1-year-old boy Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot earlier this year was a "justified" use of force. On Thursday, Sgt. Hunter Foster, the Senatobia police officer who shot Wiley, resigned from the department.
Foster's resignation comes after a tumultuous week for the Mississippi attorney general's office and the Senatobia Police Department (SPD). After Finch ruled the shooting a justified use of force on Monday, DarkHorse Press leaked footage of the body camera video from officers at the scene, along with Walmart surveillance video. On Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety released more footage, including from the bodycam of Foster, which WLBT News obtained. Together, the footage shows a less cut-and-dry incident than what statements from Fitch and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation imply.
Surveillance footage shows Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and her friend running to their car from the Walmart entrance as Wiley holds baby Kohen in her arms. Police officers soon enter the frame chasing the duo. After getting in the car, Wiley's friend backs out of the parking spot and hits another parked car. The officers crowd around the vehicle, drawing their guns and shouting "stop." Foster places himself directly in front of the vehicle, his gun primed and ready. The driver puts the car in gear and accelerates toward the officers. According to his bodycam footage, Foster, one of the two officers in the vehicle's path, lets off three shots as he hops out of the way and continues to aim his gun at the car as it passes him. It appears that at least one of the shots pierced the front windshield, while the others came through the window on the passenger side, where Kohen was sitting on his mother's lap. The car then drove away, and officers gave chase.
After reviewing the footage, Ben Crump, the Wiley family attorney, said during a Thursday press conference that the police officers "never ever should have drawn their weapons for a misdemeanor shoplifting allegation."
"The shot from the side of the vehicle was not justified," he added. "[Foster] was not in harm's way when he shot from the side." He claims that the shot that killed Kohen came from the side, corroborating an independent autopsy the family conducted.
Martin Zummach, an attorney for Foster, told the Associated Press that the driver "tried to kill" his client and other officers at the scene, giving Foster "no choice but to fire his weapon." He said it was "strictly muscle memory" that led Foster to fire those additional shots, according to WSB News. "The one that went through the side glass that everybody's going crazy about? That's because she was moving so fast," he said.
Regardless of whether the car was "moving so fast," Foster, who moved out of the vehicle's path, clearly had the choice not to fire his weapon. But instead of de-escalating the situation, the police officers decided to draw their guns and step in front of a vehicle, turning an incident involving an alleged shoplifter fleeing a misdemeanor into a life-or-death game of chicken.
The post Mississippi Cop Who Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Resigns After State Calls Shooting 'Justified' appeared first on Reason Magazine.
On Monday, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch ruled that the police shooting of 1-year-old boy Kohen Wiley was a "justified" use of force. Kohen was fatally shot in June, outside of a Walmart, as cops investigated his mother and her friend for stealing diapers. Fitch didn't explain the reasoning behind the decision or what evidence was considered in a case that has sparked national backlash.
According to a June 14 statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), officers from the Senatobia Police Department (SPD) and Tate County Sheriff's Office were responding to a shoplifting call when "officers encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle." They "attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one," and the officer then "discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene." The family went to a local hospital, where 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was pronounced dead.
Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, has a different version of events, which she outlined in a video on X following the tragedy. She said that after police tried to stop her friend (the driver) outside the Walmart, Wiley continued to go to her car, saying the interaction had "nothing to do" with her. Once she got into the car, her friend arrived and began to back out of the parking spot. Then officers came over to the car, drawing their guns. She says that after she raised Kohen to show him to the officers and try to defuse the situation, they opened fire. "[The police] tried to say that [my friend] forcefully was trying to drive and hit them, but they was all on the right side, and she was driving towards the left….They personally just shot at the car," she said. In the months since the incident, the family held several rallies, demanding justice for Kohen's death.
The tragedy of the shooting has been compounded by a lack of transparency from the SPD, as well as alleged expert analysis that counteracts the MBI's statement. According to reporting from Mississippi Today, Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who is representing the Wiley family, claims that an independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Robert Mitchell indicates that the bullets entered through the front passenger door, rather than the windshield, suggesting that the officer wasn't in the vehicle's path when he discharged his gun.
In response to Fitch's announcement on Monday, Crump released a statement asking, "How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?"
"If the footage supports the state's decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth," he added. To this point, the SPD has declined to release the footage, saying it's standard procedure during an ongoing investigation.
Crump was also keen to point out complaints of racism in the SPD: "This is a department whose chief was fired after reports of racial slurs in his text messages, and whose officer faced a complaint alleging a racially offensive remark two days before he shot Kohen."
The SPD's chief at the time, Harold Vanderford, was unceremoniously fired after journalists from Mississippi Today, The New York Times, and Verite News revealed a slew of racist text messages he sent. According to reporting from Verite News, in one of the messages he said he "almost beat a nigger and white woman's ass a few minutes ago." Senatobia's Board of Aldermen rejected his attempted resignation and voted to fire him instead on September 1.
Crump also cited a complaint filed by Officer Dexter Smith, who claimed that Sergeant Hunter Foster, the officer who shot Kohen referred to him as "a black motherfucker" on June 12, just two days before the incident. According to reporting from Mississippi Today, Smith's complaint states that he was filling out paperwork in the booking room when he heard Foster say, "Who is this Black motherfucker back there?" to his colleagues. Smith claims to have had almost no relationship with Foster prior to the encounter.
It's hard not to feel outraged considering that this little boy lost his life over something as trivial as shoplifting—a misdemeanor in Mississippi that does not justify use of lethal force, as Reason's Joe Lancaster wrote in June—and for diapers no less. With the bodycam footage yet to be released, all the public is left with is the state's word that the investigation found no wrongdoing. Given the multiple instances of racism within the department, it shouldn't come as a surprise if the public isn't content to take them at their word.
The post Mississippi A.G. Says Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy Over Stolen Diapers Was 'Justified' appeared first on Reason Magazine.
Dominic Cummings is right, says Professor James Alexander: the idea that civil servants are the 'guardians of the constitution' is pernicious in the extreme. But who then should play such a lofty role?
The post Who is the Guardian of the Constitution? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
As he charges head first into the Brexit debate, Andy Burnham resembles no one so much as Donald Trump, says Prof James Alexander: cause a stir via wild assertions, the better to give cover to what you really want to do.
The post Brexit Does Not Mean Brexit appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
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