Page 21 - 7-14-15 Tuesday's Edition

National
Florida Confederates Rally In Ocala; Gunshots Fired Near All-Black Neighborhood
Man Dies After Being Pepper Sprayed
OCALA — An estimated 2,000 vehicles, mostly motorcy- cles and trucks adorned with Confederate flags took part in a rally and ride Sunday afternoon. The gathering of like-hearts joined together to support main- taining the Confederate flag fly- ing in front of the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala.
The event was organized by David Stone of Ocala and who called the event, Florida South- ern Pride Ride.
Participants were wearing shirts that said "heritage not hate" and talked of defending a way of life rooted in Southern traditions.
A replica of the General Lee from the The Dukes of Hazzard television show led the way, fol- lowed by motorcycles and then pickup trucks. The ride was ex- pected to be 17 miles total and loop back to parking lots north of the city on U.S. 441.
peaceful as a peaceful rally in support of the Confederate flag, but gunshots allegedly rang out nearby and now police are inves- tigating.
No one was hurt, but police said at least six shots were fired from an apartment complex near the Livestock Pavilion where the 17-mile ride started.
Residents of the predomi- nately African-American neigh- borhood dispute that the gunfire came from their complex. They said they were being harassed by the demonstrators and the shots came from people participating in the Pride Ride.
said the ride was rerouted away from the Northwoods neighbor- hood after some residents threatened to shoot into the pro- cession.
It was organized to support the Marion County Commis- sion's decision Tuesday to return the Confederate flag to a histori- cal display in front of the govern- mental complex. The flag had been removed after a June mas- sacre at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C. The suspected shooter is a white su- premacist who was pho- tographed with Confederate flags.
TUSCALOOSA, AL --- A man arrested by Alabama police died shortly after he was pepper- sprayed, and investigators are trying to figure out why.
A Tuscaloosa resident called police Friday night after spotting Anthony Dewayne Ware, 35, sitting on the front porch of a home with a gun, police said.
When officers arrived, police said, Ware fled.
Police pepper-sprayed Ware, who continued strug- gling but was eventually hand- cuffed, Dunn said. But while officers were walking out of the woods with him, Ware collapsed. Officers performed CPR and called for medical help, police
ANTHONY WARE
said. But after arriving at a local hospital, Ware was pronounced dead.
Investigators from inside and outside the Tuscaloosa Po- lice Department have launched a probe into the death.
The event was intended as a
SOUTH CAROLINA -- The national board of directors of prominent U.S. civil rights group the NAACP voted on Sat- urday to end its 15-year boycott of South Carolina prompted by the display of the Confederate battle flag on state capitol grounds.
The resolution was approved during the NAACP's annual con- vention in Philadelphia.
South Carolina removed the flag on Friday to chants of "USA, USA!," after three weeks of emo- tional debate over the banner, a symbol of slavery and racism to many, but of Southern heritage and pride to others.
Numerous elected officials, including Republican Gover- nor Nikki Haley, called for the flag's removal after the June 17 killings of nine African-Ameri- can churchgoers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Photos of the white man charged in the slayings showed him posing with the flag on a website that also carried a racist manifesto..
Ocala police Sgt. Erica Hay
Rainbow PUSH Coalition In Partnership With Google Gathers
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Rainbow PUSH Coalition partnered with Google to present the “Dream Makers, Risk Takers and Money Makers: Diversity and Inclusion in Tech Forum” at the Google headquarters in Los Angeles.
The forum is part of an ongo- ing program designed to identify ways to open access and create pathways for people of color into the technology industry, as well as increase the level of diversity in Silicon Valley and beyond. Reverend Jesse Jackson and Google executives were on hand to discuss the efforts of Rainbow PUSH, along with a panel of es- teemed technology executives who explored the best ways to increase diversity and innova- tion in technology.
The main discussion began with a panel led by Navarrow Wright, who moderated the ex-
Rev. Jesse Jackson at the forum with techies.
The Confederate battle flag is permanently re- moved from the South Car- olina statehouse grounds during a ceremony in Co- lumbia, South Carolina, July, 10, 2015.
The group maintained its boycott even after lawmakers agreed to move the flag to a monument to Confederate war dead on the capitol grounds. On Saturday, in its resolution to end the boycott, the NAACP said any move to prematurely end the boycott would have emboldened elements of society seeking to "perpetuate the hatred and his- tory of oppression associated with the Confederate flag."
NAACP Ends Boycott After S.C.'s Confederate Flag Comes Down
Entertainment And Technology Influencers For Forum
ecutive panel examining the op- portunities and challenges mi- norities face in technology. Taking advantage of those op- portunities, the executives agreed, will lead to great progress and diversification in technological industries. Each panelist gave insight into how the rapidly changing nature of technology and the spread of in-
formation will allow people of any color to gain a foothold in the industry and monetize their efforts.
Following the panel, Wright sat down for a fireside chat with Grammy-winning gospel singer/songwriter Erica Campbell to discuss launching and growing her YouTube chan- nel and content creation.
Unarmed Man Choked To Death By Mississippi Police Officers
Georgia Court Hears Argument For KKK To Adopt A Highway
STONEWALL, MS -- A 39- year-old died man last week fol- lowing an altercation with a Stonewall, Miss., police officer, who allegedly strangled the un- armed father of two with a flashlight during a struggle on a desolate roadside, according to the Daily Mail.
Jonathan Sanders, who was Black and unarmed, was as- phyxiated during the altercation with Officer Kevin Harring- ton, who is white, in Stonewall, about 100 miles east of Jackson, on Wednesday night, the re- port says.
The incident occurred when the officer pulled the unarmed man from a horse he was riding with a buggy, prompting a vio- lent scuffle between the pair, which was reportedly witnessed by Sanders' relatives, notes the news outlet.
Sanders' attorney J. Stewart Parrish says his client was choked to death with
ATLANTA, GA ---- A Georgia court heard arguments last Thursday about whether the state violated a Ku Klux Klan group's constitutional rights by refusing its application to a high- way cleanup program and whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision applies in the case.
The north Georgia KKK group applied to join the state's Adopt-A-Highway program in May 2012, hoping to clean up along part of Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains. The state Department of Transporta- tion, which runs the program, denied the application. The de- partment said its program was aimed at "civic-minded organi- zations in good standing."
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation sued on be- half of the KKK group in Sep- tember 2012, arguing that the state violated the group's right to
Georgia Court hears arguments
free speech.
Fulton County Superior
Court Judge Shawn Ellen La- Grua agreed and ruled in the group's favor in November, say- ing the KKK's group's applica- tion was treated differently than others and that "viewpoint- based discrimination" is not al- lowed under the Georgia Constitution.
The state appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case. The judges made it clear that they are
very interested in hearing argu- ments from both sides as to whether a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Texas case issued last month applies in this case.
The U.S. Supreme Court up- held Texas' refusal to issue a spe- cialty license plate sought by the Sons of Confederate Veterans bearing the group's logo, which includes the Confederate battle flag. The 5-4 ruling said Texas could limit the content of license plates because they are state property.
Jonathan Sanders was killed after being choked by police officers.
a flashlight while asking officers to let him go, and stating that he could not breathe, the report says.
Police have denied the alle- gations, the report says. Stonewall Police Chief Michael Street says Sanders and the officer scuffled after he stepped down from the horse voluntary, but no weapons were drawn, the report says.
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