Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
Some news items you might have missed:
• The Advocate: Last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards honored queer actors like Janelle Monáe and Niecy Nash with major awards, and recognized LGBTQ+ film and television shows such as Tár, Hacks, The Whale, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Continue reading “LGBTQ Actors & Stories Honored At Critics Choice Awards + More News”
Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane (mugshot)Family members of George Floyd say they’re disappointed and angry after a federal judge sentenced a former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to just 2 1/2 years in prison for his part in the death of George Floyd.
That’s after the judge described Lane’s participation as “a very serious offense in which a life was lost.” Continue reading “Former Cop Gets 2.5 Years In Prison For Death Of George Floyd”
Kyle Rittenhouse (image via Twitter)A recent data breach at the Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo reveals several police officers and other public officials have opened their wallets for accused vigilantes accused of shooting Black Americans like Kyle Rittenhouse.
The Guardian reports the transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets shared the data breach listing donations which showed some were made using official email accounts.
The beneficiaries of donations from public officials include Kyle Rittenhouse, who stands accused of murdering two leftwing protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August. Rittenhouse traveled from neighboring Illinois to, by his own account, offer armed protection to businesses during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse, who became a cause célèbre across conservative media throughout late 2020, and was even supported by then president Donald Trump, held a fundraiser on GiveSendGo billed as a contribution to his legal defense. According to data from the site, he raised $586,940 between 27 August last year and 7 January .
One donation for $25, made on 3 September last year, was made anonymously, but associated with the official email address for Sgt William Kelly, who currently serves as the executive officer of internal affairs in the Norfolk police department in Virginia.
Kelly’s donation reportedly included a message to Rittenhouse: “God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong. Every rank and file police officer supports you. Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.”
It won’t surprise you to know that ‘Sgt. William Kelly’ was trending on Twitter this morning. In addition to his status as a police officer, folks noted that he’s the guy who is supposed to oversee internal affairs for his department.
It’s sad and horrifying, but of course Sergeant William Kelly, exec officer of internal affairs for the Norfolk PD, said this along with his anonymous $25 donation: pic.twitter.com/9oaS1jHgPy
— Zoé (@ztsamudzi) April 16, 2021
Sgt William Kelly is Executive Officer of Internal Affairs. He’s supposed to be the guy investigating and rooting out corruption—not the guy creating it by donating & praising a double homicide suspect.
This absolutely mandates an external investigation separate from @NorfolkPD. https://t.co/okgTeus2Cm
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. قاسم رشید (@QasimRashid) April 16, 2021
Breaking: Sgt. William Kelly, the Norfolk Police Department officer who donated to Kenosha killer, Kyle Rittenhouse, is the head of the Internal Affairs Unit — the unit that investigates police wrongdoing. He wrote that Rittenhouse “did nothing wrong.”
You can’t make this up. https://t.co/MtbFWNAu3g
— Chris Weidner (@CWNewser) April 16, 2021
Former Hamilton police chief Gene Allmond (screen capture via WTVM)They thought the patrolman’s body cam was broken. It wasn’t.
A police chief and a patrolman from the town of Hamilton, Georgia, were fired after body cam footage showed the men making racist comments regarding slavery and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Police Chief Gene Allmond and patrolman John Brooks are seen on the body cam footage (captured last June) discussing a range of topics. At the time, they believed the body cam was defective.
Later, the camera was examined and found that the camera had merely run out of storage because it was full.
At one point, the recording shows Allmond and Brooks discussing then-candidate Joe Biden’s considering Mayor Bottoms and Stacey Abrams for his running mate. Officer Brooks says during the conversation, “If I had to f*ck a [n-word], I’d rather f*ck the mayor [Keisha Lance Bottoms] than Stacey Abrams.”
As the two began to prepare for patrolling a Black Lives Matter rally, the conversation shifted to slavery. Chief Allmond offers his thoughts on the subject: “They furnished them a house to live in, they furnished them clothes to put on their back, they furnished them food to put on their table, and all they had to do” was work.
At another point in the video, Mr. Brooks is discussing a recent police shooting and complains, “How come when you tase a f*cking [n-word] it’s like you done killed them 27 times?”
Note – the six minute footage has been posted by local ABC News affiliate WTVM.
According to the New York Times, a city employee discovered the conversation while reviewing the footage. The employee contacted Buddy Walker, an assistant to Mayor Julie Brown, and eventually watched the footage with Ransom Farley, the mayor pro tempore.
Hamilton Mayor Pro-Tem Ransom Farley (screen capture)In viewing the footage with Mr. Farley, who is Black, Mr. Walker, who is white, said, “To look at the video with him, to listen to someone he’s known for many years – my reaction was incredibly bad. You can imagine his reaction.”
Mr. Farley told the New York Times, “It hurts when you think you know somebody and you don’t.”
The mayor and City Council met on Monday, January 25, and everyone agreed they “knew what had to be done.”
Informed he had the option to resign or be fired, Mr. Brooks asked to see the video recording.
Mr. Walker told the New York Times, “He watched the entire video and then came in and told the mayor pro temp that he was sorry — that that was really not the way he was.”
“I’m not accepting your apology, because you’re sorry that you got caught,” Farley told Brooks. “You’re not sorry because of what you said.”
But Mr. Farley wasn’t done.
“I own the fact that I am Black and I am gay,” Mr. Farley continued. “If you’re a bigot, if you’re a racist, own it.”
#MicDrop
Both men agreed to resign, but when Mr. Brooks didn’t return his police department equipment on time, he was fired.
Speaking to the Times, Mr. Farley made a point to note that the two men weren’t done in because someone tried to entrap them.
“Nobody told on them,” said Mr. Farley. “They told on themselves.”
(source: New York Times)
NowThis News shares this report of vehicles being used to attack protesters across the country.
In the first clip, a Boston police officer boasts about driving his car through a crowd of protesters. At the 30 second mark, the officer he’s bragging to turns away once he realizes his buddy has just confessed on an active body cam.
‘I’m f*cking hittin’ people with the car,’ says the police officer.
The short video goes on to note other violent attacks on protesters with vehicles.
Note – I’m definitely not anti-cop. I am anti-bad cop. These jokers make life much harder for the good guys.
To all the many, many good cops out there – this doesn’t help anything.
From the New York Post:
A Seattle cop was filmed rolling his bicycle over a man’s helmeted head as he lay down on the street during violent Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the decision not to charge cops for Breonna Taylor’s death.
The dungaree-wearing protester — called “trumpet man” by others in the crowd — was shown prone on the ground more than once as groups of bike cops pushed the mob back after declaring the march an unlawful protest.
As the officers advanced another time, one appeared to have had enough — and steered his bike’s wheels over the protester’s white safety helmet, according to a CJTV Media live stream. The officer — who was walking the bike at the time — then appeared to use it to hit another man to stop him getting too close.
Seattle police said it was “aware” of the video.
Two police officers swerved. One (riding) swerved to avoid him. The other (walking) swerved to run over his head and neck. Two very different kinds of cops exemplified in one video.
— Firefly (@Firefly3083) September 24, 2020