The Daily Moth 10-3-19
Deaf man is suspect in killing of four Paris police employees; Amber Guyger sentenced 10 years in emotional courtroom scene; Planned Parenthood announces large abortion clinic in southern Illinois; Trump calls on China to investigate Joe Biden
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, October 3. Ready for news?
———
Deaf man is suspect in killing of four Paris police employees
In Paris, four employees at the Paris police headquarters were stabbed to death and news reports say the suspect is a 45-year-old deaf man who worked in the department for 20 years as a computer scientist or as an IT specialist. His name has not been released by police.
The Daily Moth reached out to contacts in France for more information and one source directed me to a Paris police website that featured a 45-year old deaf employee named Michael. We are not able to confirm if it is the same person or not, but our sources say it is him.
He worked for the DRPP, short for the Directorate of Intelligence of the Prefecture of Police.
News reports say the man has been identified as Michael Harpon, so it appears to be the same person. He was born in Martinique, an island near South America.
Police said the knife attack started in an office and continued in the headquarters compound, which is across the street from the Notre Dame Cathedral. Three police officers and a civilian worker were stabbed to death. One of the victims was a female police officer. There was a fifth person, a woman, who was attacked — she is in the hospital and seriously injured.
The suspect was shot and killed outside in a courtyard. There are images of the suspect lying down on the sidewalk with blood near his head.
The motive is not known, but it appears to be a workplace issue. News reports say the suspect recently converted to Islam. There was no obvious signs of radicalization.
The suspect’s wife is also reported to be deaf and was taken into custody. Their home was searched. They have two children.
News reports said the suspect had a ceramic knife to get around metal detectors, but police have not confirmed this.
French President Emmanuel Macron went to the police headquarters to show his support. Witnesses said they saw several police officers and employees in tears.
There was a large protest yesterday with thousands of police officers marching to object against low wages, long hours, and suicides within police ranks. It is not clear if there is any relation between the protests and today’s attack.
We are working on getting more information about Michael and we will give an update tomorrow.
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/paris-un-homme-arme-abattu-a-l-interieur-de-la-prefecture-deux-policiers-blesses-03-10-2019-8165307.php
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-security-convert/paris-police-hq-attacker-recently-converted-to-islam-bfm-tv-idUSKBN1WI1TS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7533375/Knifeman-attacks-police-officers-Paris-police-station.html
https://actu17.fr/paris-un-homme-arme-dun-couteau-a-attaque-des-policiers-a-la-prefecture-de-police/
https://www.insider.com/4-officers-dead-paris-knife-attack-police-hq-2019-10
https://apnews.com/6cf2774600ca4ef3a517d84a351a2b28
———
Amber Guyger sentenced 10 years in emotional courtroom scene
Yesterday afternoon former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing Botham Jean after she mistakenly entered his apartment last year. The jury decided the sentence and Judge Tammy Kemp said she would begin serving it “today.”
She will be eligible for parole in five years.
Guyger’s team had argued she was acting in self-defense, but prosecutors questioned why a trained police officer would miss multiple signs that she was on the wrong floor and the wrong apartment.
The trial also revealed text messages by Guyger that showed racist and offensive remarks. Jean’s family questioned if she would have been slower to shoot if it was a white person she thought was in her apartment.
She was found guilty on Tuesday and sentenced yesterday.
There was a surprising and touching moment when the brother of Botham, Brandt (18), said he forgives Guyger. Brandt said she should give her life to Christ, that he didn’t want her to go to prison, and asked for permission to give her a hug.
Judge Kemp said it would be OK. Brandt and Guyger then embraced and whispered to each other. The two had tears, the judge had tears, and others in the courtroom were also crying.
Judge Kemp then gave a hug to the Jean family and also hugged Guyger and told her to read the Bible.
Outside of the courthouse, there were protesters who said the 10-year sentence was a slap in the face because it was too lenient. People marched in Dallas shouting, “No justice, no peace.”
A Dallas pastor and activist, Michael Waters, said what Brandt Jean did was beautiful, but that he is worried that it would overshadow the need for police to re-evaluate how they train officers and learn how to de-escalate violent situations.
A police accountability activist, Changa Higgins, that said it is hard for them to comprehend that Guyger will only have to serve 10 years for murdering an innocent man while there are those in prison with longer sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.
https://abc13.com/crowds-protest-sentence-of-officer-convicted-of-killing-neighbor/5586755/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2019/10/02/two-stunning-hugs-end-amber-guygers-trial-merciful-note/
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/02/766454839/amber-guyger-ex-officer-who-killed-man-in-his-apartment-given-10-years-in-prison
———
Planned Parenthood announces large abortion clinic in southern Illinois
Planned Parenthood announced they would open a large clinic in southern Illinois that will provide abortion services. The new building will be only 13 miles away from the Missouri border.
Missouri has only one abortion clinic in St. Louis and it is fighting in court to keep their license. The location of the clinic in southern Illinois was chosen to support those seeking abortions in Missouri.
Planned Parenthood had been constructing the new facility in secret since August 2018. They used a shell company to build it. The reason for the secrecy? To avoid protestors or delays or sabotages.
Illinois’ lawmakers have shown strong support for access to abortion, while Missouri is one of the most restrictive. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R ) signed a law that banned abortions after eight weeks, but that law is temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Missouri patients are required to undergo counseling with anti-abortion literature and wait 72 hours before they can get an abortion.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/planned-parenthood-mega-clinic-to-open-in-illinois-response-to-restrictive-abortion-laws-exclusive-2019-10-02/
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/463967-planned-parenthood-secretly-planned-mega-clinic-in-illinois-in-response
------
Trump calls on China to investigate Joe Biden
President Trump told reporters yesterday that China should start an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump said he hasn’t directly asked their president Xi Jinping to do this, but that it was something they can start thinking about.
So we now have Trump asking Ukraine and China to investigate his top political rival, Joe Biden.
We know that the Ukraine request is what sparked the impeachment inquiry, and Trump has now ramped up his defense that it is okay for a president to do this.
Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani accused the Chinese government of entering into a deal with Hunter that gave him $1.5 billion in exchange for U.S. trade favors. A Chinese official said this allegation was “totally groundless.”
The top Republican in the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) to suspend the impeachment inquiry because it needs the authorization of a full House vote.
Pelosi responded by saying America’s “Founders were specifically intent on ensuring that foreign entities did not undermine the integrity of our elections.” She said she saw Trump asking yet another foreign nation to interfere in the 2020 elections — she was referring to China.
So, Pelosi is not backing off, and Democrats do have control of the House. However, as discussed previously, the Senate is controlled by Republicans and it is doubtful they would turn against Donald Trump as things stand now.
https://apnews.com/c4fc388b22f549e0a67925cab8cd7e93
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766801353/trump-publicly-calls-for-china-and-ukraine-to-investigate-bidens
https://www.axios.com/nancy-pelosi-kevin-mccarthy-suspend-impeachment-8ad02922-9609-4044-97e5-d905742c93a1.html
———
That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
———
Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]