Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 1-21-20

National
Senators Swear Impeachment Oath Amid New Allegations Of White House Lawbreaking
Minorities Spend More On Banking Fees Than White People, Survey Says
Ninety-nine US senators were sworn in Thursday and, with their right hands raised, pledged to do "impartial jus- tice" in the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump. (The 100th, Oklahoma's James Inhofe, was back home dealing with a family medical issue and will be sworn in next week.)
A reading Of The Articles
House Intelligence Chair- man and impeachment man- ager Adam Schiff had presided over witness testi- mony all fall detailing Trump's pressure campaign on Ukraine to investigate for- mer Vice President Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 campaign. On Thursday, the California Democrat read the charges against Trump aloud at high noon.
Chief Justice John Roberts also took his own oath before taking over the Senate proceedings. Then the senators signed an "oath book," capping the somber
Supreme Court Chief Jus- tice John Roberts getting sworn in.
proceeding.
The dichotomy of this trial
is that it is a grave and historic occasion accented by partisan bickering. Will it create a situ- ation where lawmakers on ei- ther side buck the party line? "The weight of history sits on shoulders and produces, sometimes, results you never know will happen," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. History Is Watching
Schumer later summed up the constitutional threat that impeachment supporters see in Trump's presidency.
"President Donald Trump is accused of coercing a foreign leader into interfer- ing in our elections and then doing everything in his power to cover it up. These are ex- actly the kind of offenses the founders most feared when they formed the impeachment clause in the Constitution."
The Senate will reconvene at 1 p.m. Tuesday for opening arguments.
Walmart Says Store Mishandled Christmas Donation From Khalil Mack Foundation
KHALIL MACK
A Walmart spokesperson said Tuesday that part of an $80,000 donation made by Chicago Bears pass-rusher Khalil Mack's foundation to pay off customer layaways at a store in his hometown of Fort Pierce, Florida, was not handled properly.
Walmart held an internal in- vestigation and found that after the Fort Pierce store's layaways totaled only $60,000, store management allowed employ- ees to use the remaining $20,000 to place items on lay- away for themselves.
It was later clarified to that "the 'transaction' was flawed, but employees didn't 'misuse' the donation" and said "a 'rep- resentative' of the foundation— not the foundation itself—knew and approved of employees benefiting."
An employee of the store who did not benefit from the layaway reportedly blew the whistle on the violation by alert- ing company officials.
People of color report pay- ing more in banking fees than white people in the U.S., ac- cording to a new Bankrate.com study released Wednesday.
The financial services web- site surveyed 2,634 adults, asking them how much they spend per month on routine financial service charges in- cluding ATM fees and over- draft penalties.
On average, white check- ing account holders said they spent $5 per month on bank charges whereas those who identified as Hispanic paid $16 per month. Participants
who identified as black spent an average of $12 per month, and people who identify as any other race paid $8.
There are several reasons that disparities in bank fees may exist among ethnic groups including relationships with local banks and geo- graphic location, according to senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick at Bankrate.
"It could be because you live in a more marginalized neighborhood where there's lower-income and fewer fi- nancial service companies staking out a presence in that community," Hamrick said.
FBI Arrests 3 White
Supremacists Ahead
Of Pro-Gun Rally
FBI agents on Thursday ar- rested a former Canadian Armed Forces reservist and two other men who are linked to a violent white supremacist group and were believed to be heading to a pro-gun rally next week in Virginia’s capital.
The three men are members of The Base and were arrested on federal charges in a criminal complaint unsealed in Mary- land, according to a Justice De- partment news release.
Tuesday’s complaint charges Canadian national Pa- trik Jordan Mathews, 27, (pictured) and Brian Mark Lemley Jr., 33, of Elkton, Maryland, with transporting a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony. William Garfield Bil- brough, IV, 19, of Denton, Maryland, is charged with transporting and harboring aliens.”
The three men were be- lieved to be planning to attend the pro-gun rally planned for Monday in Richmond, accord- ing to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss an active
PATRIK MATHEWS
investigation.
In encrypted chat rooms,
members of The Base have dis- cussed committing acts of vio- lence against blacks and Jews, ways to make improvised ex- plosive devices, their military- style training camps and their desire to create a white “ethno- state,” according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.
Mathews and Lemley were arrested in Delaware and Bilbrough was arrested in Maryland, according to Mar- cia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland. All three men were scheduled to make their initial court appearances Thursday af- ternoon in Greenbelt, Mary- land.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020