Page 33 - Florida Sentinel 4-1-22

FYI
Biden Signs Bill Making Lynching A Federal Hate Crime
President Biden on Tuesday signed legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime, delivering a long- awaited win for civil rights advocates.
“Hundreds of similar bills have failed to pass. Over the years, several federal hate crime laws were enacted. ... But no federal law — no fed- eral law expressly prohibited lynching. None. Until today,” Biden said to applause.
Biden noted that civil rights leaders and lawmakers have been working for more than 100 years to pass a bill making lynching a hate crime. The president called lynching a "uniquely Ameri- can weapon of racial terror."
The legislation is named for Emmett Till, whose lynching in 1955 and subse- quent open-casket funeral helped fuel the civil rights movement. The law desig- nates lynching as a hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
"The law is not just about the past. It’s about our pres- ent and the future as well," Biden said.
"From the bullets in the back of Ahmaud Arbery to countless other acts of vio-
EMMETT TILL
lence, countless victims known and unknown, the same racial hatred that drove the mob to hang a noose brought that mob carrying torches out of the fields of Charlottesville just a few years ago," Biden said. "Racial hate isn’t an old prob- lem. It’s a persistent prob- lem."
Biden was joined by civil rights leaders and members of Congress, including Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who authored the bill in the House. Vice President Harris, who co-sponsored a version of the bill when she served in the Senate, also at- tended the signing in the Rose Garden.
Jan. 6 Panel Missing Roughly 8 Hours Of Trump's Phone Calls
The House panel investi- gating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has identified a roughly eight-hour gap in of- ficial records of then-Presi- dent Donald Trump's phone calls as the violence unfolded and his supporters stormed the building, accord- ing to a person familiar with the probe.
The gap extends from a lit- tle after 11 a.m. to about 7 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and in- volves White House calls, ac- cording to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity. It's unclear if that gap includes White House cellphones.
It's widely known that Trump had conversations on Jan. 6 with Republican lawmakers. House investiga- tors are looking at whether
DONALD TRUMP
the president was communi- cating during that time through other means, possi- bly through personal cell- phones, or some other type of communication — like a phone passed to him by an aide or a burner phone. The committee has subpoenaed cellphone companies for records and is awaiting data. Trump had no immediate comment Tuesday, but he has previously disparaged the in- vestigation.
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