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Parents of Aurora shooting victim file lawsuit against ammo, body armor suppliers
September 17, 2014 -
Study: Rates of new COVID-19 infections plummet at nursing homes after vaccinations
11:39 p.m. -
Report: New York AG has opened criminal tax investigation into Trump Organization CFO
10:20 p.m. -
Lawyers track down parents of 54 more migrant children separated during Trump administration
8:53 p.m. -
House votes to establish a Jan. 6 commission
7:26 p.m. -
Netanyahu says he's 'determined to continue' Gaza airstrikes
6:52 p.m. -
Capitol Police officers reportedly write anonymous letter expressing 'profound disappointment' at GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission
5:43 p.m. -
Oldest living survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre shares her powerful testimony
5:40 p.m.
The parents of Jessica Ghawi, a young woman murdered during the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting, have filed a lawsuit against four internet companies, alleging that they "negligently and unlawfully" supplied ammunition, tear gas, and body armor to James Holmes, a "patently dangerous homicidal man."
"We're putting them on notice," Lonnie Phillips, Ghawi's father, said during a press conference. "We're coming after you."
The lawsuit was filed by Arnold & Porter LLP's Denver office, in conjunction with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, The Denver Post reports. The companies — BulkAmmo.com, BulletProofBodyArmorHQ.com, sportsmanguide.com, and BTP Arms — "did not make reasonable inquiries into Holmes' purchases, nor did the defendants take any extra precautions when selling Holmes weapons, accessories, and ammunition, or ask Holmes why he wanted the items," the lawsuit says.
"A company should not be able to sell tear gas with the same procedures used to sell a pair of shoes," said Kelly Sampson, an attorney for the Brady Center.
The Phillips say they are not challenging the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and the goal of the suit is to get the companies to stop their sales until screening practices are reevaluated and changed.
A Texas native, Ghawi, 24, was working at a Denver television station when she was killed along with 11 others during the rampage. More than 70 people were injured. Catherine Garcia
COVID-19 vaccinations are making a major difference at nursing homes, even when not all of the residents are inoculated, new research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests.
People living in nursing homes have been vulnerable to the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, due to living in close quarters, and more than 132,000 residents have died of COVID-19, representing about one-third of the entire U.S. death toll.
The study looked at 20,000 people living at 280 nursing homes across 21 states. About 16,000 had received either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, with 70 percent receiving both doses, and roughly 4,000 were unvaccinated. The researchers found that 4.5 percent of residents contracted COVID-19 after receiving their first dose of the vaccine, and 0.3 percent came down with the virus 14 days after receiving their second dose. Most of the cases were asymptomatic.
Among their fellow residents who did not get vaccinated, the rate of infection dropped from 4.3 percent to 0.3 percent, The New York Times reports. A majority of their cases were also asymptomatic. "Robust vaccine coverage among residents and staff, together with the continued use of face masks and other infection-control measures, is likely to afford protection for a small number of unvaccinated residents," the researchers wrote. Catherine Garcia
Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is the subject of a criminal tax investigation by the New York attorney general's office, people familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday.
The case was opened several months ago, the people said, and began in part because of financial documents given to the office by Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Weisselberg. Allen Weisselberg has worked at the Trump Organization for decades, and the Manhattan district attorney's office is also investigating his personal finances. People familiar with the matter told CNN the aim is to get Weisselberg, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, to start cooperating with investigators.
The New York attorney general's office announced Tuesday night that it had informed the Trump Organization its probe into the company was "no longer purely civil in nature," with the office "now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA." For the last two years, investigators have been looking into whether the Trump Organization manipulated the value of properties in order to secure loans and lower taxes. Catherine Garcia
In the last month, lawyers working to reunite migrant families separated at the southern border during the Trump administration were able to connect 54 more children with their parents, NBC News reports.
In a court filing submitted on Wednesday, the lawyers said they are still trying to find the parents of 391 migrant children. Of those children, they know that 227 have parents who were deported, 100 have parents still in the United States, and 14 do not have any contact information. Soon after his inauguration, President Biden set up a task force to work with the lawyers and help bring back deported parents for reunification.
The lawyers estimate that in 2017 and 2018, the Trump administration separated more than 5,500 families. The administration's "zero tolerance" policy was officially in effect during May and June 2018, and most of the families separated at that time were reunited not long after. For those split apart before then, the government did not keep any records of their separations or where the parents and children ended up, NBC News reports. Catherine Garcia
With a vote of 252-175, the House on Wednesday approved the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
There were 35 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, bucking calls from former President Donald Trump to reject the formation of a commission. During the insurrection, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, with some beating police officers, breaking windows, and stealing items from offices.
Before the vote, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the riot will "haunt this institution for a long, long time," and must be investigated. Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) agreed. "This is about facts — it's not partisan politics," Katko said. "The American people and the Capitol Police deserve answers and action as soon as possible to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."
Based on the panel put together after the 9/11 attacks, the 10-member commission would be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans and tasked with figuring out how to best secure the Capitol and prevent another insurrection from taking place. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called it "slanted and unbalanced" in favor of Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans are "caving" to Trump, and he will force a vote on the bill. Catherine Garcia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected President Biden's call for a "significant de-escalation" of the violence between Israel and Hamas, tweeting that he is "determined to continue this operation until its goal is achieved, to restore peace and security to you, the citizens of Israel."
The fighting is now in its 10th day, and at least 227 Palestinians, including 64 children, have been killed in Gaza, while 12 people, including two children, have been killed in Israel. Israel said its airstrikes have been targeting Hamas in an attempt to degrade its military capabilities, and a senior Israeli military official told The Washington Post that so far, more than 60 miles of underground tunnels and 80 rocket launchers have been destroyed.
Israel, the official said, has had "a factory of [Hamas] targets" in mind for years, ready to hit them when the "opportunity" came up. "We are assessing whether the achievements are enough to bring the message to Hamas," he added. "We can go more days, more weeks."
Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, but lately not with the same speed as earlier in the conflict, the Post reports. Egypt is leading the efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, and per Reuters, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV he expects one will be brokered "within a day or two." Catherine Garcia
Members of the Capitol Police on Wednesday reportedly sent an anonymous letter to members of Congress expressing their "profound disappointment" with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for not supporting House Democrats' proposal for a Jan. 6 commission. Capitol Police officers, of course, were in the middle of the worst of the riot that day, tasked with protecting lawmakers as the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
The letter is not an official statement from the Capitol Police, and a spokesperson said the agency does not know who specifically sent it. It's also unclear how many members may have been involved, and the Capitol Police said it can't confirm the letter was actually authored by any officers. But Rep. Jamie Raskin's (D-Md.) office said those who endorsed the letter preferred to remain anonymous "because they are afraid of retribution for speaking out," while the letter itself said they did so because "we are expected to remain neutral and do our jobs with honor and integrity."
As for content, the letter says "we would hope that the members whom we took an oath to protect, would at the very minimum, support an investigation to get to the bottom of everyone responsible and hold them 100 percent accountable no matter the title or position they hold or held," adding that it's "inconceivable" any lawmakers "would downplay" the Capitol riot and "unconscionable" that anyone would suggest "we need to move forward or get over it." Tim O'Donnell
NEWS: MEMBERS of the U.S. Capitol Police have issued a statement to members of Congress expressing "profound disappointment" with McConnell and McCarthy's positions on the Jan. 6 commission, citing the "trauma" that officers endured that day. pic.twitter.com/CRweVhIAnD
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) May 19, 2021
Viola Fletcher can still hear the screams. In a powerful testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday, the oldest living survivor of 1921's Tulsa Race Massacre shared her story.
"I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. ... I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre everyday. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," said Fletcher. She was joined at the hearing by her brother and fellow survivor Hughes Van Ellis. Lessie Benningfield Randle, another survivor, appeared virtually.
The 107-year-old traveled to Washington, D.C — for the first time ever — to testify regarding a lawsuit filed last year against the city, county and chamber of commerce of Tulsa, as well as the state of Oklahoma, reports The Washington Post. Fletcher, Van Ellis and Randle are the three lead plaintiffs in the case, which argues Oklahoma and Tulsa "failed to defend the Black community from a White mob," per the Post, and owe survivors and their descendants reparations. Previous attempts at such redress have been unsuccessful.
Said Van Ellis, a World War II veteran: "Please, do not let me leave this Earth without justice, like all the other massacre survivors," reports NPR.
Because of the massacre, Fletcher's family was forced to leave Greenwood, robbing her of an education. Fletcher later volunteered in war efforts, but spent most of her life as "a domestic worker serving White families." To this day, she can "barely afford" her "everyday needs."
"I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre everyday. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot."
— 107-year-old Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, testifies during a hearing about possible compensation for victims. pic.twitter.com/aXnDoQ2m0x
— The Recount (@therecount) May 19, 2021
The Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed 40 square blocks of Greenwood, Oklahoma — "a community once so prosperous it was called Black Wall Street" — and is believed to have left "as many as 300 Black people dead" and "10,000 without homes," reports the Post. Brigid Kennedy