Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 8-2-16 Online Edition

National
Klansman That Killed
Facebook Post Gets St. Louis TV Reporter Fired
The late Micheal Brown and his mother, Lezley McSpad- den. McSpadden was one of the speakers at the DNC in Philadelphia last week.
ST. LOUIS, MO -- Fox 2 St. Louis has fired reporter Bobby Hughes after he made a sick joke on Facebook about Michael Brown Jr.'s mother and her son's shooting death, according to an unofficial re- port from a Fox 2 employee who would not be identified for fear of retaliation from man- agement.
“It’s become a safety issue with our crews on the street as we have seen threats against the crews posted in all sorts of social media,” one black em- ployee said. “No one wants to go in a news vehicle or live truck with a big bull’s eye on it.”
Some black employees are still demanding that station General Manager Spencer Koch publicly apologize for Hughes’ conduct.
“If the right thing isn’t done, then we will go to all the news outlets with the true story of KTVI and the way minorities are treated,” the employee said.
In a July 22 Facebook post about Lezley McSpadden being invited to speak at the Democratic National Conven- tion, Hughes commented, “She’s going to talk about the new lead diet she’s endorsed. Five servings and you can lose 200 lbs in two years easily.”
On July 26, the Ethical Soci- ety of Police, an organization that represents 200 minority police officers, released a state- ment demanding that Hughes apologize to the community and Brown’s family for his re- marks.
No Surprise: All 6 Police Officers In Freddie Gray Case Acquitted
4 Girls In B’ham Church
In 1963 Up For Parole
A Ku Klux Klan member cur- rently serving four life sen- tences in Alabama for murdering four Black girls in 1963 is up for parole after serv- ing only 15 years, AL.com re- ports.
Thomas Blanton, Jr., was convicted in 2001 of planting a bomb outside a Birmingham Baptist church that killed an 11-year-old girl and three 14- year-old girls inside. According to the AP, two other Klansmen convicted in the bombing have since died in prison.
Former U.S. attorney Doug Jones, who prosecuted Blan- ton, calls the bombing an "act of terrorism.”
Despite the life sentences, a parole hearing for the 78-year- old Blanton is scheduled for Wednesday. The parole board is expected to make a decision the same day.
Like all other Alabama in- mates, Blanton won't be pres- ent at his parole hearing. But
The 6 police officers that came in con- tact with him during his arrest and transporting to the jail were all acquit- ted.
Freddie Gray had his spine severed while in police custody. His mother Gloria Darden talks about the acquit- tal.
College Student Frozen
BARNESVILLE, GA --When police officers found 19-year- old Fred Barley sleeping in a tent outside of Gordon State College a few weeks ago, his life forever changed. This homeless college student said he rode his brother’s bike for six hours from Conyers to Bar- nesville, Ga. to register for his second semester of college.
In an effort to assist the de- termined young man, officers paid out-of-pocket for him to stay in a local hotel room for two days. Barley posted his story on the Barnesville Com- munity Facebook Page and the community quickly rallied be- hind him with support. In- cluded in the donations was a motel room for housing until he was able to get into the dorms, a job offer at a local pizzeria, as well as a Go- FundMe page raising $184,000+ for the young man. The giving momentum came to a screeching halt when, Casey Blaney, the woman who began the GoFundMe ac- count for Barley, became sus- picious about the validity his story.
In an interview with The At- lanta Journal-Constitution Blaney’s lawyer, Wright Gammon spoke on Blaney’s behalf saying that accepting
Fred Barley’s story went viral when the police officer that found him told his wife about him. The wife posted the story and set up the account. Now that the account has reached nearly $200k she has become suspicious of his story and the fund has been frozen.
more funds would mean “tak- ing advantage of the public”.
“The only person getting hands on the money is Fred if he’s in school and the trustee that’s going to make the deci- sions as to when and how much to pay,” Gammon said.
According to the AJC, Go- FundMe has frozen the ac- count and raised an inquiry into his story. If things do not check out, officials with the crowdfunding site say the money will be refunded to the people who donated.
12-Year-Old Chef Creates Cookbook To Show Kids How To Eat Healthy
Shi Curry, 12, is the author of S.N.A.C. it up cookbook.
Klansman, Thomas Blanton, Jr., 86, is up for parole.
prosecutors, families of the vic- tims, civil rights groups, and members of the black commu- nity all plan to attend to op- pose Blanton's release.
"I think it would be a travesty of justice if he were paroled," the president of the Metro Birmingham NAACP said. “He has shown no remorse.”
BALTIMORE, MD — It’s happened again. Last year, 25- year old Freddie Gray, an African American man, was ar- rested and died while in police custody in Baltimore, Mary- land. This year, all charges have been dropped against the six police officers that were in- volved.
Gray was arrested for al- legedly possessing an illegal switchblade. Responding offi- cers also say that he “fled un- provoked upon noticing police presence.” He was then placed unrestrained in a police van and transported to the city jail. But when officers attempted to remove Gray from the van, he was found no longer breathing appearing to have suffered from a cardiac arrest according to responding medics. He un- derwent surgery at Shock Trauma, and later died.
Naturally, this sparked a na- tional outrage amongst African Americans across the country. Many suspected that Gray was
intentionally harmed and killed by the police officers while being transported. One theory was that the driver of the police van purposely slammed on the brakes, knowing that Gray was unrestrained in the back of the vehicle.
But those theories did not hold up in court. Not one of the police officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transpora- tion to city jail will be punished in anyway, and all are free to return to the force.
Gray’s mom, Glorida Dar- den, told reporters, “It was wrong what they did to my son, they lied and I know they lied. I know they killed him.”
Darden also praised Balti- more City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby who an- nounced and pursued charges against the officers last May. “She did a good thing,” Dar- den said. “I’m going to keep on trusting her with my son... to get justice.”
GoFundMe Account For Homeless
Atlanta, GA — S.N.A.C. it up! CEO/Chef, Shiona “Shi” Curry authors S.N.A.C. it up! Cookbook: Shi’s Natural Ap- proach to Cooking (www.snac- itup.com) to inspire children to make healthy food choices. Shi’s passion for eating healthy ultimately translated into an aspiration for all chil- dren to be healthy, while en- joying food that tastes great.
Shi credits her parents’ de- sire in supplying her siblings and herself with a diet of natu- ral foods, even though she was initially hesitant. However, after adopting positive affir- mations into her life, Shi
found it easier to make healthy food choices. After making a conscious decision to eat healthy, Shi also began ex- ploring her love for cooking, which stemmed from her fas- cination as a four-year-old when she would watch cooking shows, and read every cook- book she could get her hands on.
Shi, with the guidance of her supportive parents, began transforming natural foods that are usually considered un- appealing to children, such as brussel sprouts and broccoli, and made them “SNACali- cious.
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