Page 29 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-20

National
4 Charged After Black Man’s Burning Body Is Found In Iowa Ditch
Breonna Taylor’s Mother Speaks Out After Cops Who Killed Her Daughter Get Off Without Charges
TAMIKA PALMER IN FRONT OF HER DAUGHTER’S MURAL.
On Tuesday, law enforce- ment officers arrested four suspects in connection to the killing of Michael Williams, 44, of Grinnell, Iowa, whose body was found burning in a ditch on last Wednesday, Sept. 16, according to the Iowa De- partment of Public Safety.
Steven Vogel was charged with one count of murder in the first degree and abuse of a corpse. Vogel, 31, is being held at the Marshall County Jail, where he was already in custody for unrelated charges. Julia Cox, 55, and Roy Lee Garner, 57, were charged with one count of abuse of a corpse, destruction of evidence and accessory after the fact. Additionally, Cody Johnson, 29, was charged with abuse of a corpse and accessory after the fact.
A Sept. 18 autopsy report
From left: Cody Johnson, Julia Cox, Roy Lee Garner, and Steven Vogel
from the Office of the State Medical Examiner classified Williams’ death as a homi- cide, with a cause of death listed as strangulation.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety believe Williams and Vogel were "known acquaintances who often socialized within the same circle of friends." Offi- cials added that no evidence has led them to believe the
crime was "motivated by his race nor that his death was the result of a hate crime."
"The investigation has re- vealed Williams was killed on or about September 12, in Grinnell. Mr. Williams’ body was then wrapped in cloth and plastic, which was secured with rope and tape, then trans- ported to rural Kellogg on Sep- tember 16, where it was set ablaze," officials said.
Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, says the system failed her daughter. Palmer posted a painting portrait of Taylor on Insta- gram on Wednesday (Sept. 23) which she hashtagged, #ThesystemfailedBreonna.
The Instagram post serves as her first public response to a grand jury failing to bring charges against three Louisville police officers for killing Taylor. On Thursday (Sept. 24), Palmer shared a photo of a woman carrying a sign with the Bible verse: “It’s wrong to favor the guilty and keep the innocent from get- ting justice.”
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron held a press conference on Wednes-
day where he announced that no charges would be brought against Louisville officers Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison for killing Tay- lor. Hankison was the only one among the three to be charged, but not for Taylor’s death.
In an interview with NPR last week, Palmer expressed her hope that charges would be brought against the offi- cers. “I’m hoping to hear that there will be charges,” she said at the time. “That these people will be fired and ar- rested.” Hankinson is the only one of the three officers to be fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department after Taylor’s death.
Young Voters Planning To Turn Out At 2008 Levels As Blue Wave Builds Around Biden
In another troubling sign for President Donald Trump’s reelection cam- paign, new data shows that Former Vice President Joe Biden is polling much better among young voters than Hillary Clinton did four years ago.
According to a poll from the Harvard Kennedy School In-
JOE BIDEN
stitute of Politics, 60 percent of likely voters in the 18-to-29 age range plan to support Biden while just 27 percent back Trump.
As Greg Sargent of the Washington Post pointed out, “That’s significantly better than the 49 percent that Hillary Clinton got in this poll in 2016.
Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan Is Now The Interim Police Chief In Rochester, NY
There’s been a change in Rocherster, NY. Specifically, the mayor, Lovely Warren, has appointed a new interim police chief and two individuals to the Rochester Police Department Command Staff.
Here’s the bottom line: Cyn- thia Herriott-Sullivan will become the interim chief of the department on October 14. Herriott-Sullivan, a former RPD Lieutenant who rose through the department’s ranks until her retirement in 2009, will be the first female to hold the Police Chief’s position in the his- tory of the department.
CYNTHIA HERRIOTT-SULLIVAN
“These are difficult times for the city of Rochester, and other communities as well. I will do my best to put my experience and commitment to good use in helping Rochester move for-
ward. We will all need to bring our best to the table,” said Her- riott-Sullivan.
Meanwhile, Mark Simmons will continue to serve as acting Rochester Police chief until then.
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