June 8 top stories
It is June 8. Here are today’s top stories.
Parkland school shooting deputy on trial
AP News said the trial of a Florida sheriff’s deputy who is accused of not preventing some of the Parkland school shooting murders began on Wednesday and that the trial is the first of its kind in U.S. history.
The deputy, Scot Peterson, was charged with seven counts of felony child neglect for four students who were killed and three who were wounded on the third floor of a classroom building. Peterson is facing several other related charges.
Prosecutors played videos that showed Peterson arriving outside of a school building about a minute and a half after the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, went inside and started shooting. Peterson had his gun drawn but he did not go inside. He instead moved away to the corner of another building and stayed there while Cruz continued to shoot up the building for about two more minutes. Peterson then stayed at the corner for another 30 minutes.
Prosecutors said Peterson could have confronted Cruz and saved the lives of six of the 17 people who were killed.
Peterson’s defense attorney said he was made to be a scapegoat by former Sheriff Scott Israel.
Peterson faces a lengthy prison sentence if he is convicted of felony child neglect and could lose his $104,000 annual pension.
AP said there is a similar case in Uvalde, Texas, in which investigators are probing the actions of police officers who did not immediately confront the gunman who was shooting up an elementary school classroom. There have been no charges in Texas so far.
Trump may be nearing indictment over classified documents
There are news reports that say Donald Trump may be facing a federal indictment very soon over his classified documents investigation and potential obstruction of justice.
NPR reported that Trump’s lawyers have received notice from the Justice Department (DOJ) that Trump is a target. NPR said people who receive target letters are usually indicted, but not always.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that nobody has told him that he is being indicted and that he shouldn’t because he has done nothing wrong.
News reports said DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith is using two grand juries, one in D.C. and one in Miami, to gather evidence.
Trump was recently indicted on a state level in New York over the alleged hush money scheme during the 2016 election. So this would be a second indictment for him.
Supreme Court sides with Black voters in Alabama
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold a precedent from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that requires state legislatures in states where voting is racially polarized to create the maximum number of majority-Black or near-majority-Black congressional districts. The idea is to prevent state legislatures from creating district maps that would put the majority of a state’s Black residents into one district, which may deprive Black residents of the opportunity to elect their preferred representatives.
NPR explained that at issue was Alabama’s congressional redistricting plan. 27% of Alabama’s population is African-American, but the way congressional district lines are drawn, Black residents have a majority in just one out of seven districts. In the map here, the state’s African-American majority in the 7th congressional district. It is the only Democratic district and is represented by Terri Sewell. The other six districts have a Republican and white lawmaker representing them.
In January 2022, a district court said, according to the Voting Rights Act, there should have been at least two congressional districts with a majority or close to a majority of Black voters. The state of Alabama disagreed and appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the districts were drawn in a race-neutral manner.
The Supreme Court’s three liberals were joined by conservative justices Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh to make it a 5-4 vote in favor of Black voters. Chief Justice Roberts said they are simply doing a faithful application of precedents.
Now Alabama will have to redraw the state’s congressional maps to allow a second district with an African-American majority.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said, “This decision is a victory for Black America and a triumph for our democracy.”
———
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
—--------
[Advertisement from Disaster Distress Helpline: After a disaster, you may be at risk for emotional distress. Warning signs can include feeling isolated, anxious, having trouble sleeping and more. If you or someone you know is Deaf or hard of hearing, the Disaster Distress Helpline offers a direct videophone option.
This free service for ASL users is answered 24/7 by trained crisis workers fluent in ASL and can be accessed using any videophone-enabled device and dialing 1-800-985-5990 or at https://bit.ly/3CEwnNT
—--------
Four children stabbed at park in France
Today in France in an area called Annecy, a 31-year-old man wielding a knife stabbed four small children and two adults at a park. There are videos that show the man running around a playground and stabbing a child who is in a stroller while their mother or guardian tried to stop him. Other men then chased down the knifeman and police eventually shot and arrested him.
BBC said the suspect is a Syrian man who received refugee status in Sweden 10 years ago and was in France legally. He left a wife and a three-year-old daughter behind in Sweden to be in France.
French authorities said there is no evidence of a terrorist motivation and that the suspect had no known criminal or psychiatric record. They said during the attack, he shouted the name of Jesus Christ.
The injured children’s ages were between 22 months and 3 years old. The Annecy mayor said the children are out of surgery and their condition seems stable. One of the adult victims had to undergo surgery.
French President Macron said the attack was an act of absolute cowardice and that the nation is in shock.
Pat Robertson dies at 93
Pat Robertson, who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, passed away at the age of 93 today.
NBC News said he was one of the most prominent and influential Christian broadcasters and entrepreneurs in the U.S., and that he was equal parts of religious leader and culture warrior.
Robertson ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988 but couldn’t beat the eventual winner George H.W. Bush.
Robertson is credited with helping to mobilize American Christians — evangelicals — into a conservative political bloc that is one of the key groups of the modern Republican Party.
Messi to play for MLS team Inter Miami
Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer player who recently won the World Cup, announced he will be coming to the U.S. to play in the Major League Soccer, with Inter Miami.
Messi will be leaving the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) team. There was speculation that Messi would play in Saudi Arabia, but he chose Miami. Messi is 35 years old.
ESPN said Messi may get a percentage of revenue from new subscribers to Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1181002182/supreme-court-voting-rights
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/politics/supreme-court-alabama-voting-rights-milligan/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/65843586
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37812200/hot-takes-lionel-messi-move-mls-inter-miami
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180753012/mark-meadows-trump-testimony-grand-jury