Friday, September 11 top news briefs
It is September 11. Here are today’s top news briefs.
19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
Today is the 19th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 people died, including over 340 firefighters and over 70 police officers. Over 2,600 died at the World Trade Center. Many first responders had health problems from inhaling smoke and dust.
President Donald Trump visited a memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which is where Flight 93 crashed when 40 passengers and crew fought back against terrorists who wanted to aim the plane towards the U.S. Capitol. Trump said their memory will inspire America for all time to come.
Joe Biden visited the 9/11 museum in New York City and bumped elbows with Vice President Mike Pence at the World Trade Center site. Biden later visited Shanksville in the afternoon.
Members of Congress held a moment of silence on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.
Update on George Floyd murder trial
ABC News reported that the four former police officers who are charged with the death of George Floyd on May 25 have argued that each should get their own trial and tried to diminish their roles in Floyd’s death by pointing their fingers at one another.
Prosecutors want all four officers to be tried together. They said all four worked together to murder Floyd: three who restrained Floyd’s body on the floor and one who controlled the crowd. Prosecutors said the evidence is similar for all four.
The attorney for Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, asked for his murder charge to be dismissed, saying there is not enough evidence against him.
Prosecutors said they want higher penalties for the four former officers, in an “upward departure” from sentencing guidelines.
A trial is scheduled for March.
In separate but related news, the family of George Floyd will attend the Minnesota Vikings’ season opener on Sunday. They will be honored after a rendition of the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Police shot and killed 288 people in USA since May 26
CBS News reported that ever since May 25, which is when George Floyd died, police in the U.S. killed 288 people. 102 were white, 59 were Black, 42 were Hispanic or Latino, five were Asian, two were Native American, and 78 others’ race was unknown.
CBS News explained that Black people and persons of color are killed at disproportionate rates because 13% of the U.S. population is Black but 20% are killed by police, which means that Black people are three times more likely than white people to be killed by police.
Wildfires updates
The wildfires in western U.S. states have killed at least 17 people.
Portland, Oregon has declared a state of emergency because wildfires are approaching the city. 500,000 residents in Oregon have evacuated from their homes.
A 12-year-old boy named Wyatt Tofte, his grandmother Peggy Mosso, and the boy’s dog were found dead from a wildfire in Lyon, Oregon. This is close to the Camp Taloali site.
Six of the top 20 largest California wildfires have happened this year, and politicians are pointing to climate change as part of the cause.
That is all the top news for this week. Check out our Deaf News videos. Have a good weekend and stay with the light!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54123146
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1304450442743762944
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/cops-blame-seek-trials-floyds-death-72942354
https://www.tmz.com/2020/09/11/george-floyd-will-be-honored-minnesota-vikings-game-family-to-attend/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/500000-evacuate-wildfires-oregon-death-toll-climbs/story?id=72944928
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-fire-12-year-old-boy-grandmother-killed/