The Daily Moth 12-30-19
New York Hanukkah stabbing incident | Texas church shooting | Rep. John Lewis has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer | World News: Airstrikes in Iraq; Australia heatwave and bushfires; Chinese gene scientist jailed | Oldest working sign language interpreter passes away at 97
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Monday, December 30. I’m back in the Detroit area. I hope your Christmas / holiday break went well. We’ve got very little time left in 2019. Ready for news?
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New York Hanukkah stabbing incident
On Saturday night in Monsey, New York, which is an hour north of New York City, a man with a large knife broke into Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s home during a Hanukkah party and stabbed five people, seriously injuring two. One is still at a hospital with a skull fracture.
The suspect, Grafton Thomas, was arrested several hours later and is charged with five counts of attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty and his bail was set at $5 million. He was later charged with federal hate crimes.
Thomas covered his face with a scarf when he burst into the home and swung his knife back and forth, trying to hit people. Survivors either ran away or threw objects at him.
When the suspect fled the home and got into his car, one of the survivors took a photo of his license plate, and the image was used to track him down and arrest him in Harlem. Police found the suspect covered with blood. He had anti-semitic journal entries.
The rabbi did not let the stabbing stop his Hanukkah ceremony. It was the seventh night. A video on Twitter shows him continuing to lead prayers and thanks.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it was an anti-Semitic, hateful attack and called it an act of domestic terrorism. He met with the rabbi at his home.
An attorney for the suspect’s family said Thomas has a long history of mental illness and is not a member of any hate groups.
There are now serious concerns for the safety of Jewish people in the New York area because prior to this stabbing incident, there were several anti-Semitic attacks on the streets and a shootout at a Kosher store that killed a police officer and three people.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/12/monsey-synagogue-stabbing-attack-new-york/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/12/30/monsey-stabbing-grafton-thomas-suspect/
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/open-season-on-jews-reports-of-anti-semitic-attacks-during-hanukkah-cause-for-concern/2250584/
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Texas church shooting
On Sunday morning at the West Freeway Church of Christ near Dallas, a gunman shot and killed two people during church services. An armed security guard returned fire and killed the suspect.
The church was live-streaming their service when the shooting happened. The video has been taken down, but the video has already spread through the internet.
The video shows pews of church members quietly taking part in communion (Lord’s Supper) when suddenly, on the far left side of the building, a man wearing long, dark clothes stands up and pulls out a shotgun and fires at two men who were helping with the services. Both men fell.
A man — the security guard — emerges from the back of the audience, pulls out a handgun, and fires a single shot, which drops the gunman before he is able to reach the stage.
Most of the church members are seen ducking under their pews, while a woman frantically runs to the left side of the building, apparently to check on one of the victims. Two more men, also security guards, walk through the audience holding handguns.
There were a total of three gunshots and the whole thing took only 5 seconds.
One of the men who died was identified as Anton “Tony” Wallace (64). He was a deacon and a registered nurse. His daughter standing only a few feet away when he was shot. She said in an interview that it happened so fast and that it hurts that their dad is gone. She said the gunman was a white man wearing a fake beard and black hair.
The other man who died was identified as Rich White. No other information about him was available at the time of signing.
The heroic security guard was identified as Jack Wilson. He said he would not allow evil to succeed, was blessed with the ability and desire to serve God as the head of security at the church, and is very sad at the loss of his two friends and brothers in Christ.
The gunman has been identified by NBC 5 DFW as Keith Kinnunen (43). The FBI is trying to understand his motive and said he was “transient.” He had an extensive criminal record.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/12/church-of-christ-shooting/
https://twitter.com/ryanaustinict/status/1211413625631588353
https://www.axios.com/texas-church-shooting-2-dead-1-wounded-e1d64e97-579b-456a-8660-2e38065fc784.html
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Rep. John Lewis has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga) announced he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and is undergoing treatment. He is 79 years old and has served in the House since 1987.
He is best known for being a civil rights leader in the 1960’s, as he helped to organize the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech; and was known to endure beatings by police or mobs whenever he stood up for equal rights.
Lewis said he never faced a fight like this one, but he will fight the cancer.
Former President Barack Obama, who presented Lewis with the 2010 Medal of Freedom, tweeted that he knows Lewis has a lot of fight left in him and that he was praying for Lewis.
Lewis’ cancer is the same as what “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek has. The American Cancer Society says there is only a 3 percent chance either person will survive after 5 years.
https://www.axios.com/john-lewis-pancreatic-cancer-c58898dd-16de-437d-82fc-9b1954c3201f.html
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html
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World News: Airstrikes in Iraq; Australia heatwave and bushfires; Chinese gene scientist jailed
Here are three world news briefs.
The first — the U.S. military conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, targeting five facilities that is believed to be used by a militia that is supported by Iran. Reports say 25 people were killed. President Trump approved the airstrikes.
The Pentagon said the airstrikes, conducted by F-15 Strike Eagle fighter planes, were a response to a series of attacks against joint US-Iraq facilities that housed American soldiers. On Friday, a U.S. civilian contractor died in a rocket attack near a base in Iraq. Four U.S. service members were injured.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Mahdi, who found out about the operation 30 minutes before the airstrikes, said he was against the airstrikes because they violated Iraq’s sovereignty and threatened the security of the country.
The second news — Australia is going through a severe heatwave and battling multiple deadly bushfires. Every state in the country is at least 40C — or 104 degrees F, and what makes the situation worse is that there are severe winds. Tens of thousands of people have been urged to evacuate. At least 10 people have died since September, including a volunteer firefighter who died when his truck rolled over in extreme winds. Two other volunteer firefighters died on December 19. The smoke columns are said to create their own weather systems that cause thunderstorms. The fires have affected several New Year’s Eve preparations, but the famous fireworks display in Sydney will go on despite criticism.
The third news — A court in China sentenced a scientist, He Jiankui — who claimed last year to have genetically edited twin girl babies — to three years in prison and a fine of almost $430,000 for doing “illegal” experiments. He claimed to have genetically edited a third baby.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/29/politics/us-strikes-iran-backed-militia-facilities-in-iraq-syria/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-airstrikes-on-iran-backed-militia-draw-condemnation-retaliation-threats-in-iraq/2019/12/30/d13a10be-2af0-11ea-bffe-020c88b3f120_story.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50938504
https://www.axios.com/chinese-gene-editing-scientist-he-jiankui-jailed-23f534d3-ab74-491c-8c07-f381ef5806ba.html
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Oldest working sign language interpreter passes away at 97
Our country’s oldest active sign language interpreter, Norma Lewis, passed away at the age of 97.
The Daily Moth did a story on her back in June about Lewis being honored for her service in the military during World War II and we showed a video that was posted by Honor Flight Bluegrass, of Lewis signing.
Norma Lewis:
I can’t wait to see all the men and women from World War II… and again to know we will be together again after the war 75 years ago… which is very hard to believe.
Renca:
Lewis passed away on Sunday, November 24th in Louisville, Kentucky. Visitation was on December 3rd and 4th and the burial was on the 4th.
According to a local news article, Lewis started interpreting when she was the age of 9 for her deaf aunt and uncle in Connecticut and then retired in 2017 when she was 95 years old.
In 2014, she was honored for her service as an interpreter by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
On the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing's Facebook page, it says that Lewis was one of the very first interpreters to give deaf people a voice in the legal system and she was a mother figure and a mentor to many people.
Lewis was very active in the deaf community and never stopped her love for interpreting. Many comments on Facebook say that she was a funny person and everyone loved her.
Lewis is preceded in death by one son -- which means he died before she did -- and is survived by another son, daughter in law, and two grandchildren.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?n=norma-d-lewis&pid=194586423&fhid=29361
https://www.facebook.com/pg/KCDHH/posts/
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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