Bernie Sanders says man ID’d as shooter was on campaign
Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders says the man authorities identified as opening fire on the Republican congressional baseball practice had apparently volunteered on his presidential campaign. Sanders, of Vermont, says in a statement: “I am sickened by this despicable act.” He says that “violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.” He paid tribute to Capitol Police for their response to the shooting, and said his “hopes and prayers” are with House GOP Whip Steve Scalise and others who were wounded. Sanders challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential election. He adds in his statement that “real change” can only come through nonviolent action. Republished with permission of The Associated Press. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. pic.twitter.com/hyfmmpgXML — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 14, 2017
2 killed, at least 17 wounded in Florida nightclub shooting
Gunfire erupted at a nightclub hosting a swimsuit-themed party for teens in Florida, leaving two dead and at least 17 wounded, officials said Monday. It was not immediately clear what triggered the violence. Fort Myers police detained three people and said the area around Club Blu had been deemed safe, police Capt. Jim Mulligan said in a statement. “While we are still learning the details about what happened this morning, we know that some of the victims of this terrible incident were children,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement. “We will continue to pray for the victims and their families.” Three people remained hospitalized Monday morning, Cheryl Garn, a spokeswoman for Lee Memorial Health System, said in an email. All others were treated and released. Two people brought to two other area hospitals were also treated and released, Garn said. The club is in a strip mall that includes a daycare center and is across the street from a large apartment complex. Officers had the area taped off as crime scene technicians scoured the strip mall parking lot for clues.Ages of the patients ranged from 12 to 27, Garn said. State records online show the alcohol license for Club Blu was revoked on June 7. The records from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation say the license was revoked because of an incident that occurred a year ago, but there are no additional details available. The same records also show that a complaint was filed in 2014 for “criminal activity” and that the club was given an official notice. The violence at Club Blu erupted about 12:30 a.m. Monday, Mulligan said. There were two active crime scenes, police said. Several hours later a street in the area remained closed as police investigated. In a statement, authorities said the Fort Myers police and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office were “actively canvassing the area looking for other persons who may be involved in this incident.” The names of the victims were not immediately available. Syreeta Gary told WFTX-TV her daughter ran and dodged between shots to avoid being shot. Her daughter was OK, but her daughter’s friend “got hit in the leg and luckily it’s just her leg,” she said. “Her dodging bullets and running, dropping in between cars, it’s ridiculous that these kids have to go through this,” Gary said. “They can’t enjoy themselves because you have other people that have criminalistic minds and they just want to terrorize things.” A post on Club Blu’s Facebook page Monday morning said the shooting happened as the club was closing and parents were picking up their children. The post also said there was armed security at the event. “We are deeply sorry for all involved,” the post read. “We tried to give teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time.” The shooting comes more than a month after a nightclub shooting in Orlando that was the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history. The shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12 left 49 victims dead and 53 others wounded.
Suspected Baton Rouge shooter was former University of Alabama Dean’s list student
The gunman who shot and killed three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers and wounded three others Sunday morning has a tie to Alabama. University of Alabama spokesperson Chris Bryant confirms Gavin Long attended the school in 2012 for one semester. He was named to the school’s Dean’s List that spring. Bryant said the UAPD never had any interactions with Long while he attended the school. Long, a former Marine from Kansas City, Missouri, turned 29 on Sunday, the same day he opened fire on the police officers. He was shot and killed at the scene of the shooting.
Minn. cop fatally shoots black man during traffic stop, stirs social media outrage
The fatal shooting of a black man in his car by a Minnesota police officer went viral Thursday, its aftermath broadcast live over Facebook by the victim’s girlfriend, who cried that he had just been shot “for no apparent reason.” The shooting happened late Wednesday during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. The interim police chief in nearby St. Anthony, Jon Mangseth, said he was aware of the video but had not seen it. In the video, the woman describes being pulled over for a “busted tail light” and says her boyfriend had told the officer he was carrying a gun for which he was licensed. She says he was shot as he reached for his wallet. The video appeared to be genuine, but The Associated Press could not immediately verify it with family members, and authorities did not confirm its authenticity. As word of the shooting spread, relatives of the man joined scores of people who gathered at the scene and outside the hospital where he died. They identified him as Philando Castile of St. Paul, a cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school. Castile’s girlfriend said Thursday that he was killed even though he complied with the officer’s instructions. Diamond Reynolds told reporters that Castile did “nothing but what the police officer asked of us, which was to put your hands in the air and get your license and registration.” Speaking to CNN early Thursday, Castile’s mother said she suspected she would never learn the whole truth about her son’s death. “I think he was just black in the wrong place,” Valerie Castile said, adding that she had underlined to her children that they must do what authorities tell them to do to survive. “I know my son … we know black people have been killed … I always told them, whatever you do when you get stopped by police, comply, comply, comply.” Castile’s exact age was not immediately clear. Relatives said he was 32. Reynolds said he was to turn 35 later this month. Police did not release any details about the officer who fired except to say he had been placed on paid administrative leave. Reynolds described him as Asian. It was the second fatal shooting this week, coming only days after a black 37-year-old man was killed by officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alton Sterling‘s death was caught on video. On Wednesday, the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into Sterling’s shooting, which took place after he scuffled with two white police officers outside a convenience store. In a written statement, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said he asked the White House to begin a Justice Department probe into Castile’s death. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension opened its own independent investigation overnight, he said. Castile’s cousin, Antonio Johnson, told the Star Tribune that because Castile was a black man driving in a largely middle-class suburb, he “was immediately criminally profiled and he lost his life over it.” The site of the shooting in Falcon Heights is close to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and not far from a clutch of fields associated with the University of Minnesota’s agricultural campus. Late Wednesday, protesters moved to the governor’s mansion in nearby St. Paul, where around 200 people chanted and demanded action from Dayton, a Democrat. By daybreak, around 50 protesters remained outside the mansion despite a light rain. The video posted Wednesday night on Facebook Live shows the woman in a car next to a bloodied man slumped in a seat. A clearly distraught person who appears to be an armed police officer stands at the car’s window, telling the woman to keep her hands where they are and intermittently swearing. Mangseth said he was “made aware there was a livestream on Facebook” but that he did not know anything about its contents. In the video, the officer tells her to keep her hands up and says: “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out.” “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir,” the woman responds. The video goes on to show the woman exiting the car and being handcuffed. A young girl can be seen and is heard saying at one point, “I’m scared, Mommy.” The woman describes being put in the back seat of the police car and says, “The police just shot my boyfriend for no apparent reason.” A handgun was recovered from the scene, police said. Clarence Castile spoke to the Star Tribune from the Hennepin County Medical Center, where he said his nephew died minutes after arriving. He said Philando Castile had worked in the J.J. Hill school cafeteria for 12 to 15 years, “cooking for the little kids.” He said his nephew was “a good kid” who grew up in St. Paul. Minnesota court records online show Castile had some misdemeanor violations, mainly related to driving. The president of the Minneapolis NAACP, Nekima Levy-Pounds, told the crowd she has no faith in the system in the wake of this and other police shootings of black men. “I’m tired of the laws and policies on the books being used to justify murder,” Levy-Pounds, a civil rights attorney, said as rain began to fall. “This is completely unacceptable. Somebody say, ‘Enough is Enough.’” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
As the shootings unfolded, a horror for one mother via text
Mina Justice was sound asleep when she received the first text from her son, Eddie Justice, who was in the gay nightclub when a gunman opened fire, leaving 50 dead and more than 50 wounded. This is the conversation she had over text message with her 30-year-old son: “Mommy I love you,” the first message said. It was 2:06 a.m. “In club they shooting.” Mina Justice tried calling her 30-year-old son. No answer. Alarmed and half awake, she tapped out a response. “U ok” At 2:07 a.m., he wrote: “Trapp in bathroom.” Justice asked what club, and he responded: “Pulse. Downtown. Call police.” Then at 2:08: “I’m gonna die.” Now wide awake, Justice dialed 911. She sent a flurry of texts over the next several minutes. “I’m calling them now. U still in there Answer our damn phone Call them Call me.” The 911 dispatcher wanted her to stay on the line. She wondered what kind of danger her son was in. He was normally a homebody who liked to eat and work out. He liked to make everyone laugh. He worked as an accountant and lived in a condo in downtown Orlando. “Lives in a sky house, like the Jeffersons,” she would say. “He lives rich.” She knew he was gay and at a club – and all the complications that might entail. Fear surged through her as she waited for his next message. At 2:39 a.m., he responded: “Call them mommy Now.” He wrote that he was in the bathroom. “He’s coming I’m gonna die.” Justice asked her son if anyone was hurt and which bathroom he was in. “Lots. Yes,” he responded at 2:42 a.m. When he didn’t text back, she sent several more messages. Was he with police? “Text me please,” she wrote. “No,” he wrote four minutes later. “Still here in bathroom. He has us. They need to come get us.” At 2:49 a.m., she told him the police were there and to let her know when he saw them. “Hurry,” he wrote. “He’s in the bathroom with us.” She asked, “Is the man in the bathroom wit u?” At 2:50 a.m.: “He’s a terror.” Then, a final text from her son a minute later: “Yes.” More than 15 hours after that text, Justice still hasn’t heard from her son. She and a dozen family and friends are at a hotel that has become a staging area for relatives awaiting news. Any news. “His name has not come up yet and that’s scary. It’s just …” she paused and patted her heart. “It’s just, I got this feeling. I got a bad feeling.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
