Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 8-15-17

White House And Political News
White Supremacists Praise Pres. Trump’s Response To Rally
White Supremacists with torches lit marched through the cam- pus of Univ. of Virginia in protest of the removal of a confederate statue on Saturday. The rally turned deadly after one of its par- ticipants plowed his car into marchers that were against their rally, killing 1 woman, and injuring 19.
Top Republicans Take Trump To Task Over Weak Response To Charlottesville Rally
A man who associated himself with the white supremacist group that organized the rally in Char- lottesville has been arrested for plowing into the crowd of marchers against the rally. Conservative Utah senator, Orrin Hatch tweeted his disproval of Pres. Trumps response to the incident.
President Donald Trump on Saturday con- demned violence that took place in Charlottesville, Vir- ginia, where thousands of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members gathered brandish- ing guns, torches, and Con- federate flags.
But to the elation of Nazis online and armed militiamen in the streets of Char- lottesville, Trump declined to distance the White House from the white hate groups who’d initially gathered in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Confed- erate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Instead, the president con- demned “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.”
During brief remarks from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., the president made no mention of the white su- premacists, some of whom
wore t-shirts featuring quotes by Adolf Hitler or carried flags bearing symbols of Nazi Germany. “It’s been going on for a long time in our coun- try,” said Trump.
However, President Trump's national security adviser said Sunday that the violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend "meets the defi- nition of terrorism.”
H.R. McMaster told ABC's "This Week" that "any- time that you commit an at- tack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism.”
McMaster called it "a criminal act against fellow Americans. A criminal act that may have been motivated — and we'll see what's turned up in this investigation — by this hatred and bigotry, which I mentioned we have to extin- guish in our nation.”
Republican lawmakers this weekend took President Donald Trump to task over what they deemed a weak re- sponse to white supremacist groups and violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., the latest sign that Trump’s grip on the party may be weakening.
The outspoken group in- cluded past Trump antago- nists such as Sens. Ben Sasse, Jeff Flake and
Marco Rubio, but it also in- cluded prominent conserva- tive voices who aren't known as fierce critics of the admin- istration, such as Sens. Orrin Hatch and Cory Gardner, according to Politico.
The Republicans joined civil rights leaders and De- mocrats who reacted angrily when Trump said Saturday he condemned "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and
violence on many sides — on many sides.” His repetition of “many sides” struck critics as seeming to equate the white supremacist groups who or- ganized the rally with counter- protesters, though the White House later sought to recast his statement to be more crit- ical of hate groups.
"We should call evil by its name," Hatch, the Utah Re- publican, wrote on Twitter Saturday.
HUD To Shut Down Last 2 Public Housing Projects In Low-Income Illinois Town
Dr. Ben Carson, the brain surgeon and former Re- publican candidate ap- pointed as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment, has announced that HUD will shut down both public housing projects in Cairo, Illinois, a rural town in Southern Illinois.
In meeting with the resi- dents of Cairo last Tuesday at a high school gym, Carson pledged to help the residents he displaces, NPR reports.
In April, federal HUD au- thorities told over 180 resi- dents they would have to leave their homes, due to their deplorable condition. The news devastated resi- dents. Many of the places in which tenants were living suffered severe mold, plumb- ing and electrical issues.
They also had to deal with mouse and insect infesta- tions.
HUD has announced that the department will no longer construct new homes, but Carson still promises to help remaining residents who want to stay in the small town in any way he can.
Residents wonder how he will help them when new housing hasn’t been con- structed in 50 years. As of date, only 10 of the 400 dis- placed families have secured
HUD Sec. Ben Carson spoke to the remaining residents of 2 housing projects in Cairo, IL that will be torn down, saying he will help the displaced residents.
housing.
Cairo’s public housing
residents are many of the city’s remaining population. The city has been in decline for decades, and it no longer has a gas station or grocery store. Still, remaining resi- dents consider the city their home and don’t plan on leav- ing.
"Nothing is simple with Cairo," said Jerry Brown, a deputy undersecretary at the agency, in a June article by NPR.
But Brown says the un- fortunate reality is that HUD is no longer in the housing construction business.
It relies on private devel- opers, and attracting them to an isolated, predominantly low-income rural area like
Cairo is tough.
The agency also says it
doesn't have enough money to rehabilitate the projects as well as keep open the other Section 8 properties in town it acquired after taking over the Alexander County Hous- ing Authority.
Demolishing and rebuild- ing the projects entirely has an estimated price tag of nearly $40 million.
Originally, residents were told they'd have 150 days to vacate after receiving their vouchers, but recently it was announced there is some flexibility.
"We're going to do every- thing we can to allow every- one that can find affordable housing in that community to remain there," Brown says.
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2017