Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 3-3-17

National
New App Celebrates Black Fraternity And Sorority Life
Officer That Killed Philando Castile Pleads ‘Not Guilty’
ATLANTA, GA — Sometimes words are not enough, and that’s why there are stickers. The Di- vine 9 Emojis app, released last week for iMessage, is a 300+ sticker pack capturing the quin- tessential expressions of Black Fraternity and Sorority life.
Stickers have been available on social messaging apps like WeChat, Twitter, and Face- book’s Messenger and came to iMessages on iOS 10, last Fall.
One can send stickers as part of the conversation, like how they would send emoji or emoti- cons, or they could even stick the stickers onto a photo before sending it off.
Sticker packs will not create a traditional icon on the phone’s home screen and must be launched within iMessage.
To purchase the Divine 9 Emojis sticker pack, simply go to the traditional App Store or search for it directly within iMessage by doing the following:
• Launch iMessage
• Open the App drawer
• Tap the ‘+’ to open the iMes- sage App Store interface
• Tap the search button in the upper left corner
• Search for ‘Divine 9 Emojis’
• Select and download
Divine 9 Emojis has content for Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho and Iota Phi Theta.
ST. ANTHONY, MN —- The Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile as he sat in a car with his girlfriend and her four-year- old daughter officially pled not guilty to charges of second de- gree manslaughter in a court- room on Monday.
St. Anthony Police Depart- ment Officer Jeronimo Yanez, 28, also stands accused of two felony counts of danger- ous discharge of a firearm stemming from the July 2016 killing. He is currently on leave from the department.
According to local ABC affili- ate KTSP, St. Anthony Police Chief Jon Mangseth was in attendance during Monday’s hearing, as was Castile’s mother, Valerie, and his friend John Thompson, who told reporters “I don’t want to say anything to jeopardize the pro- ceedings. That’s [Yanez’s] right to plead not guilty.”
Castile’s shooting, the im- mediate aftermath of which was streamed live on Facebook by his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, set off days of in-
Former Minneapolis officer Jeronimo Yanez fatally shot Phi- lando Castile in front of his girlfriend and daughter.
Judge Lays Down Law And Jail To Disruptive Family Members
Judge Qiana Lillard sentenced the defendant’s mother and male family member to jail for laughing at drunk driving victim’s family.
tense protests across the Twin Cities. Alongside the deaths of Alton Sterling, and Keith Scott, Castile’s death became one of that summer’s most visi- ble instances of police violence against black men.
In mid-February, Ramsey County District Court Judge
William Leary III ruled against a request by Yanez’s attorneys to dismiss the charges against their client.
Lawyers for the police officer reportedly argued that Yanez feared for his life during the traffic stop that left Castile dead, and was justified in shooting the 32-year-old school cafeteria worker to death. Castile was carrying a licensed pistol at the time.
Yanez is reportedly due back in court for his next hear- ing on April 3. His trial is set to begin May 30.
Years In Prison For Duo Who
Crashed And Threatened Violence
At Black Child’s Birthday Party
DETROIT, MICHIGAN --- Recently, Detroit Judge Qiana Lillard had her pa- tience running thin while sen- tencing 25-year-old Amanda Kosal for killing a father of five during a drunk driving acci- dent. That’s when she saw the defendant’s mother Donna Kosal laughing and mocking the victim’s family during an impact statement.
Judge Lillard quickly de- cided to throw Donna and an- other man out of the courtroom for criminal contempt and sen- tenced her to 93 days in jail. Video of the incident went viral.
“It's time for him to go,” the judge says, looking out into the courtroom gallery. “And I don't know who he is, but whoever can sit here at a tragic moment like this and laugh and smile when somebody has lost a fam- ily member... in the entire time that Mr. Zirker's sister was speaking that clown, and that's what I am going to call him, a
clown, was sitting there smiling and laughing.
“These people are here griev- ing, saddened because a sense- less act took away their loved one and you're sitting here act- ing like it's a joke?” Judge Lil- lard continued. “Anybody else want to go? Try it.”
Perhaps the best part was when Donna Kosal tried ar- guing with the judge as she was taken away in handcuffs and said something about the judge’s mouth. Judge Lil- lard’s response. “Well your mouth just got you 93 days.”
The next day Kosal appeared before Judge Lillard and had her sentence significantly re- duced, but the damage on her reputation was already done. As for Amanda Kosal, she re- ceived three to 15 years in prison.
The Internet went wild over Judge Lillard’s DGAF atti- tude, particularly the “93 days” line.
DOUGLASVILLE, GA. — A Georgia judge sentenced two people to lengthy prison terms for their role in the disruption of a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats.
Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report.
Both wept as the sentences were handed down Monday in Douglas County, west of At- lanta.
The judge ordered the two permanently banished from Douglas County once they are released.
The two are the last of 15 people charged in the con- frontation at the 8-year-old's party, which took place in Douglasville in July 2015. Only four were charged with felonies. The other two pleaded guilty and are serving shorter prison terms.
Torres and Norton were found guilty of yelling racial slurs and threatening to kill partygoers, even the kids.
Jose Torres cries during his sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Georgia, on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced Torres and Kayla Rae Norton, right, to lengthy prison terms Monday for their role in the disruption of a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats.
Prosecutors said Torres pointed a shotgun at the party.
Norton was sentenced on one count of violating Geor- gia's street gang act and one count of making terroristic threats. Torres was sen- tenced on three counts of ag- gravated assault with a deadly
weapon, one count of terroris- tic threats and one count of vi- olating the street gang act.
The disruption of the birth- day party took place less than a month after white suprema- cist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans at a his- toric black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B