Page 36 - Florida Sentinel 7-3-20

National
K-State Players Announce Boycott After Student’s Floyd Tweet
MANHATTAN, Kan.— Kansas State football players say they will boycott all team activities until administrators create a policy that would allow a student to be expelled for “openly racist, threatening or disrespectful actions.”
The move that most play- ers announced Saturday on social media follows a tweet by a student about the death of George Floyd that prompted outrage on cam- pus.
“We are demanding that Kansas State University put a policy in place that allows a student to be dismissed for displaying openly racist, threatening or disrespectful actions toward a student or groups of students,” the play- ers said in the letter they posted. “We have resolved that we cannot play, practice or meet until these demands are heard and actions taken. We love Kansas State, but we must stand together and pro- tect all students moving for- ward.”
Late Sunday, coach Chris Klieman tweeted his sup- port: “Racism is NOT wel- come at KSTATE now or in the future. ... I am excited to help every player unite for the solution NOW, so that that we can come together stronger than ever. Black Lives Matter.”
On Thursday, one month after Floyd, a Black man, died after a white Minneapo- lis police officer pressed his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes, student Jaden McNeil tweeted, “Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!”
KENT STATE COACH
University officials have said they are exploring their options for action after the tweet. University President Richard Myers said Friday that “divisive statements do not represent for the values of our university.”
McNeil describes himself as the founder of a conserva- tive group called America First Students, which Kansas State says is not currently registered on the campus be- cause of a lack of member- ship. America First Students had already drawn the ire of students for past statements made by McNeil.
McNeil has previously said America First Students is a “mainstream, Christian, conservative organization that supports President Donald Trump.”
The statement from foot- ball players Saturday came a day after a pair of Kansas State basketball players and a handful of football players threatened a boycott if the university didn’t take action. A number of college athletes around the country have used their influence to push for so- cial justice since Floyd’s death.
Mississippi State Legislature Passes Bill To Remove Confederate Symbol From State Flag In Historic Vote
The Mississippi state leg- islature on Sunday passed a bill to remove the Confeder- ate emblem from their flag in a historic referendum on the only remaining state flag to feature the Confederate in- signia.
The bill will now go to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, who has said he would sign it nto law. Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Reeves,
told CNN Monday "once the Legislature sends the final bill to his desk and he's had the opportunity to review it, Governor Reeves will sign the bill in the coming days."
The legislation -- which cleared the state House in a 91-23 vote and the state Sen- ate with a 37-14 vote -- comes as Mississippi law- makers have been weighing a change to their flag for weeks amid ongoing racial
justice protests across the country. The flag, first adopted in 1894, has red, white and blue stripes with the Confederate battle em- blem in the corner.
The bill establishes a com- mission to develop a new flag design without the Confeder- ate emblem that includes the phrase "In God, We Trust." Mississippi state voters would then vote on the new design this November.
6 Months After Kneeling On A Black Woman’s Neck And Tasing Her Belly, Miami-Area Officer Faces Battery Charges
A former Miami Gardens police officer has been charged with four counts of official misconduct and two counts of battery stemming from a January incident where he knelt on a Black woman’s neck and stunned her twice with a Taser during an unlawful arrest.
Jordy Yanes Martel
turned himself in on Thursday after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found he violated a number of proto- cols, including lying on a po- lice report and using excessive
SAFIYA SATCHELL
force on Safiya Satchell. Martel confronted the 33- year-old Satchell on January
14 outside of a Miami strip club. According to the Miami Herald, Satchell attempted to leave the club after being unsatisfied with the service there. The manager of the club approached Martel and another officer, Sgt. Arther King, and asked that Satchell be given a trespass- ing warning “to prevent her from coming back to the club,” writes the Herald. Both officers were working off-duty security for the establishment that night; Martel was still wearing his police uniform.
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