August 04, 2016
By JULIE PACE
Associated Press
In a searing denouncement, President Barack Obama castigated Donald Trump as “unfit” and “woefully unprepared” to serve in the White House. He challenged Republicans to withdraw their support for their party’s nominee, declaring “There has to come a point at which you say ‘enough.’”
While Obama has long been critical of Trump, his blistering condemnation Tuesday was a notable escalation of his involvement in the presidential race. Obama questioned whether Trump would “observe basic decency” as president, argued he lacks elementary knowledge about domestic and international affairs and condemned his disparagement of an American Muslim couple whose son was killed while serving the U.S. Army in Iraq.
A chorus of Republicans has disavowed Trump’s criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan and the Republican nominee’s calls to temporarily ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. But Obama argued that isn’t enough.
“If you are repeatedly having to say, in very strong terms, that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama asked during a White House news conference. “What does this say about your party that this is your standard-bearer?” No prominent Republican lawmaker responded to Obama’s challenge.
Instead, it was Trump stunningly withholding his support from top GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. In an affront to his party’s top elected official, Trump told The Washington Post he wasn’t “quite there yet” on an endorsement for Ryan in his primary next week.
Trump’s refusal to back Ryan exposed anew the deep divisions within the GOP and underscored that the businessman rarely plays by the traditional political playbook. Ryan has been among those urging Republicans to rally around Trump, despite concerns about his candidacy.
Ryan’s campaign said, “Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump’s endorsement. And we are confident in a victory next week regardless.”
Trump also said he was not supporting Sen. John McCain in his primary in Arizona, and he dismissed Sen. Kelly Ayotte as a weak and disloyal leader in New Hampshire.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton sees those GOP concerns about Trump as an opportunity to reach out to party moderates — particularly women — who may be so upset by the nominee that they’re willing to look past policy differences and questions about Clinton’s character.
One of those Republicans came around to Clinton’s side Tuesday. Hewlett-Packard executive Meg Whitman, a prominent GOP fundraiser and donor, endorsed Clinton and said, “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.”
Obama — who is enjoying heightened popularity in his eighth and final year in office — plans to campaign robustly for Clinton through Election Day. He and first lady Michelle Obama spoke at last week’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia.
The Khans also appeared at the convention, with Khizr Khan telling the story of his son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart after his death in 2004. Khan criticized Trump’s position on Muslims and asked whether the real estate mogul had read the Constitution.
For most politicians, tangling with a bereaved military family would be out of bounds. But Trump dove in, questioning why Ghazala Khan did not speak, implying her religion prevented her from doing so, and saying he was “viciously attacked” by Khizr Khan.
Trump’s criticism was part of a familiar pattern: He can’t let go of a perceived slight, no matter the potential damage to his presidential campaign or political reputation.
Those who have worked with him say that in private meetings he can often appear amenable to putting a controversy aside. But the businessman can quickly be drawn back in by an interview, especially if he believes he's already answered a question, or if he grows irritated by commentary on cable television.
Trump’s unwillingness to let the matter subside sparked outrage Monday from several Republicans.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, a former prisoner of war, said Trump did not have “unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.” Rep. Mike Coffman, a vulnerable Republican in a competitive Colorado district, said he was “deeply offended when Donald Trump fails to honor the sacrifices of all of our brave soldiers who were lost in that war.” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt said the Khans “deserve to be heard and respected.”
Obama argued those denunciations “ring hollow” as long as Republicans continue to back Trump in the White House race.
Trump’s response? On Twitter, he said, “President Obama will go down as perhaps one of the worst president in the history of the United States!”
Sen. Mark Kirk, who is facing a tough re-election fight in Illinois, rescinded his endorsement of Trump in June after the GOP nominee criticized an American-born judge’s Mexican heritage. Others, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Ryan, have broken with the nominee on individual issues but continue to back his candidacy.
August 04, 2016
City News Service
President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted the federal prison sentences of 214 inmates, including five Southland residents, saying they were sentenced under outdated guidelines.
“The power to grant pardons and commutations ... embodies the basic belief in our democracy that people deserve a second chance after having made a mistake in their lives that led to a conviction under our laws,” Obama said.
Five Southland residents were among those who had their sentences commuted:
— Charles Bynum of Torrance, who was sentenced in 2003 to life in prison in Florida for conspiracy to possess and distribute material containing methamphetamine. His sentence will now end Aug. 3, 2018, conditioned on his enrollment in a residential drug treatment program.
— Darnell Crookshank of West Covina, who was sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for drug conspiracy and manufacturing. His sentence will now end Dec. 1.
— Keldren Joshua of Los Angeles, who is serving 168 months for conspiracy to possess and distribute a controlled substance. His sentence will now end Dec. 1.
— Gregory Allen Liningham of Los Angeles, who was sentenced in 1993 in Texas to life in prison for possession of crack. His sentence will now end Dec. 1.
— Derwlyn Rosborough of Lake View Terrace, who was sentenced in Wyoming in 2002 to 240 months for possession of cocaine. his sentence will now end Dec. 1.
Obama has granted commutations to 562 inmates during his administration, more than the last nine presidents combined. Of those, 197 were serving life prison sentences. According to the White House, most of the inmates are non- violent drug offenders “incarcerated under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws.”
July 28, 2016
Associated Press
Chicago's police union is asking officers to not volunteer to work overtime during the Labor Day weekend to protest the "continued disrespect" toward officers and the killings of law enforcement personnel nationwide.
The Chicago Police Department typically deploys thousands of officers on overtime to counteract the spike in shootings that usually occurs during long holiday weekends. But in a recent flier sent to rank-and-file officers, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 advises against officers volunteering for duty.
"There is a new level of concern that families now have when their loved ones leave for work in law enforcement that they didn't have a month ago," Chicago FOP President Dean Angelo said, referring to the recent fatal shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "And we are saying, put your kids at ease, don't take that extra day at risk if you don't have to."
The flier said taking a stand would also "show unity and ... protest the continued disrespect of Chicago Police Officers."
The request may be largely symbolic. Labor Day is the last of three warm-weather holidays when thousands of extra officers usually flood the streets, and the department says it will order officers to work overtime if insufficient volunteers step forward.
"There will not be any operational impacts to the deployment of police on Labor Day weekend," department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
But the flier underlines serious problems for the department, which has come under fire for using excessive force since the November release of a now-famous video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
That shooting helped to expose stark statistics that show officers in the city are rarely punished for on-duty shootings. The officer involved in the McDonald shooting, Jason Van Dyke, was the first in decades to be charged with murder for an on-duty shooting. And between 2007 and two months ago, the Independent Police Review Authority that investigates police misconduct found only two of some 400 police shootings were unjustified.
Just this week, the agency recommended that three officers involved in two separate shootings be fired. And though the recommendations were made after the flier went out, Angelo said it is the latest example of the lack of support for police officers that he has been talking about for months.
"These officers are being subjected to the entire anti-police movement," he said.
July 28, 2016
LAWT News Service
On Sunday, July 24, day 13 of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles’ 24-hour protest calling for the firing of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, the group brought together for the first time the families of those recently killed by the police or died while in police custody under suspicious circumstances for what the group called “Family Day.” Standing in front of City Hall East in downtown Los Angeles the families of Mitrice Richardson, Ezell Ford, Keith Bursey, Meagan Hockaday, Nephi Arriguin, Wakeisha Wilson and Kendrec McDade gathered together many meeting each other for the first time. Together they represented victims killed by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Pasadena Police Department and the Oxnard Police Department.
24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was found dead August 9, 2010 after she went missing after being released from the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on September 17, 2009.
19-year-old Kendrec McDade was killed by Pasadena police officers on March 24, 2012 after a false 911 call said that he was armed with a gun.
25-year-old Ezell Ford was killed by the LAPD on August 11, 2014, after a questionable stop by two Los Angeles police officers on 65th and Broadway in South Los Angeles. Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas, gang enforcement officers in the LAPD’s Newton Division, said they believed Ford was trying to dispose of drugs that were in his possession, which Wampler felt was sufficient evidence to arrest him. No drugs were ever found in the vicinity. As the two year anniversary approaches, Ford’s mother has said she is prepared to chain herself to District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s office for an answer on whether Lacey will charge the officers involved.
Meagan Hockaday was a 26-year-old African-American resident of Oxnard was shot and killed by the Oxnard Police Department on Saturday, March 28, 2015 after a 911 call made by Hockaday's fiancé, reporting a domestic dispute. Within twenty seconds of arriving at the family's apartment, officers fatally shot Hockaday with the couple’s three children in the apartment at the time.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies killed 21-year-old Nephi Arreguin May 7, 2015 in Cerritos after deputies claimed he attempted to run them over. Deputies said they had been investigating reports of a suspicious couple knocking on doors in the neighborhood.
36-year-old Wakeisha Wilson died at a hospital on the morning of March 27, 2016 about an hour after she was found hanging in her cell in the LAPD’s Metropolitan Detention Center. Wilson was arrested on suspicion of battery shortly before 1 a.m. March 26 and booked into an LAPD jail two hours later. Her family was never notified by the LAPD and only found out about her death after being told to call the coroner.
Keith Bursey Jr. was a 31-year-old black man fatally shot by the LAPD on June 10, 2016 near West Slauson and Brynhurst avenues after gang enforcement officers stopped a car he was in and said a man with a gun got out.