Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 5-31-16 Online Edition

National
Oklahoma Grad With Cerebral Palsy Walks For The First Time In Public To Get His Diploma
Micah McDade surprised everyone when he got up from his wheelchair and walked to receive his diploma.
Fathers Inc. To Host Diaper Drive For Low-Income Dads
ATLANTA, GA — Fathers Incorporated has launched its Daddy Diaper Drive in part- nership with Huggies for At- lanta fathers. The drive’s focus is to serve low-income fathers 25 years of age and younger. The drive kicked off at Fathers Incorporated’s National Fa- therhood Conference Annual Dinner held at Turner Field in April and will continue until June 10th. The diapers will be distributed at a special Fa- ther’s Day event in College Park on Saturday, June 18th.
The overall goal of the drive is to elevate the message that a father’s engagement and con- tribution to the well-being of his children extends beyond his paycheck. Therefore, offer- ing assistance with free dia- pers, we can play a role in building the self-esteem of young fathers.
Huggies and the “Every Lit- tle Bottom” campaign have al- ready donated 10,000 diapers and wipes to jumpstart the Daddy Diaper Drive.
Police Chief Resigns After Officers Fatally Shoot Woman
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - "These officer-involved shoot- ings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its eyes"
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr resigned Thurs- day after 30 years of service, according to the city’s mayor.
Mayor Ed Lee announced that he asked Suhr to resign, appointing Toney Chaplin as acting police chief, accord- ing to NBC Bay Area. The an- nouncement comes after San Francisco police fatally shot a woman earlier in the day.
“These officer-involved shootings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its eyes to questions of when and how police use lethal force,” said Lee during the resigna- tion announcement.
Activists have been calling for Suhr to be fired for months, NBC reports, after fatal shootings in December and April and two recent scan- dals involving officers ex- changing racist text messages.
Man’s Murder Conviction Dropped After 19 Years
John Nolley hugs family members as Innocence Project legal intern, Emily Pelz, center, and Attorney Barry Scheck, right, wipe away tears, following Nolley’s release May 17, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas.
OKLAHOMA -- On Friday, Oklahoma high school grad- uate Micah McDade ac- complished two amazing milestones.
Not only did McDade ac- cept his diploma that day, but the graduate—who was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects move- ment, muscle tone or pos- ture—walked for the first time in public in order to re- ceive his certificate, the Ok-
mulgee News Network re- ports.
The graduate had been working on his walk for months, according to the re- port. After being rolled to the on-field stage at Harmon Stadium in his wheelchair, McDade stood up before using a walker to cross the stage. As soon as he got to his feet, his classmates started cheering in a roaring stand- ing ovation.
TARRANT COUNTY, TX - A Texas man jailed for about 19 years on a murder convic- tion was freed from prison on Tuesday after compelling evidence came to light indi- cating that he did not com- mit the crime, officials said.
“I feel blessed,” John Nolley, 42, told reporters after hugging his family and leaving a courtroom. A judge in Tarrant County released him on bond and vacated his conviction for the 1996 mur- der of Sharon McLane, who was found stabbed to death in her home.
He was freed with the help of the advocacy group Inno- cence Project, which pointed out problems with his prose- cution to the Conviction In- tegrity Unit of the Tarrant County District Attorney.
The group raised ques- tions over the reliability of state witnesses, the im- proper withholding of evi-
dence and physical evidence improperly used to link Nol- ley to the crime.
The prosecution relied heavily on testimony from a jail house informant, who said Nolley confessed to him. The content of the tes- timony appears to have been fabricated, the group said.
Details of problems with the case are set to be released next week. Nolley has not been formally exonerated. That may be settled later in a different proceeding.
Testing of physical evi- dence at the scene such as a bloody palm print indicates the crime was committed by someone other than Nolley, the group said.
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said this case serves as a good example of why her of- fice set up a conviction in- tegrity unit to look at past prosecutions.
Middle School Student Suspended And Charged For ‘Stealing’ Milk That Came With Free Lunch
Shamise Turk and her son, Ryan.
Security Guard Arrested After
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA -- A Virginia middle school student has been suspended from school, charged with larceny and or- dered to appear in juvenile court for “stealing” a 65-cent carton of milk that his mother says was free.
Shamise Turk said that she is angry, frustrated and mad that her son, Ryan was handcuffed and charged with stealing a milk carton that comes free with his meal because he is on the school’s free-lunch program.
A Prince William County police officer assigned to the school accused Ryan of stealing the milk. The officer reportedly grabbed Ryan, who told the news station
that he pulled away from the officer’s grasp.
“I yanked away from him; Itoldhimtogetoffofmebe- cause he’s not my dad,” the middle school student said.
The officer then placed Ryan in handcuffs and took him to the principal’s office, where he was searched for drugs, Ryan’s mother told the news station.
Ryan was then not only suspended from school but also charged with larceny, and he has been ordered to appear in juvenile court.
A school spokesperson told WTVR that Ryan has been suspended for “theft, being disrespectful and using his cellphone in school.”
WASHINGTON, D. C. -- A Giant grocery store security guard has been charged with simple assault and was ar- rested after allegedly forcing a transgender woman out of the women's restroom, NBC Washington reports.
Ebony Belcher, 32, said she went into a Giant store in Northeast Washington, D.C., and asked an employee where the bathroom was. On her way into the restroom, Belcher passed by a secu- rity officer who was standing in the hallway.
The female officer entered the restroom behind Belcher and told her to get out, called her names and put her hands on her, Belcher said.
"You guys cannot keep coming in here and using our
Ebony Belcher says she was assaulted after attempting to use the women’s bathroom at a grocery store.
women's restroom. They did not pass the law yet," the guard said, according to Belcher.
Belcher said she called police and reported the inci- dent after she left the store.
Assaulting Transgender
Woman In Bathroom Incident
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