The Daily Moth 6-5-2019
Parkland deputy arrested for not confronting gunman; Oakland City Council follows Denver in decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms; New York legislature passes bill banning cat declawing; Top News Briefs: Spinning helicopter rescue; wife falls to death after fight with husband; woman charged with pulling gun on black couple at campground; Republican Senators considering blocking Trump’s actions on Mexico tariffs and Saudi arms deal; CODA Oklahoma City police officer helps Deaf woman in car trouble
Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, June 5. Ready for news?
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Parkland deputy arrested for not confronting gunman
Scot Peterson, the former deputy at Stoneman Douglas High School who was criticized for not going inside a building to confront a gunman who killed 17 people last year, was arrested yesterday on 11 charges for his lack of action. He faces up to 100 years in prison.
Surveillance video at the school on the day of the shooting showed Peterson running towards a school building where the shooting happened, but he stayed outside with his gun drawn.
The Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said there can be no excuse for his complete inaction and said it cost lives.
Peterson’s lawyer said he is a scapegoat and that this is a politically motivated retribution.
He made his first court appearance today and is expected to post his $102,000 bond soon. He will be required to surrender his passport and wear a GPS monitor.
The gunman, Nikolas Cruz, faces the death penalty and his trial is expected to start early 2020.
http://bit.ly/2Kzn3Rn
https://www.axios.com/former-deputy-scot-peterson-faces-criminal-charges-over-parkland-f429a715-1d87-44ee-b08a-01bd9e2376d9.html
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Oakland City Council follows Denver in decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms
Yesterday the Oakland, California City Council voted to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, as known as “magic mushrooms.” Denver did the same in May.
People testified that taking the mushrooms or other psychoactive plants or fungi helped them to overcome depression, drug addiction, and PTSD.
The Oakland City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize it, but it remains illegal under state and federal law. A council member, Noel Gallo, said this would allow Oakland police to focus on serious crime.
Gallo said half of his family is Native American and that he grew up with his grandmother with those plants in their backyard and that it was used as medicine.
In May, voters in Denver narrowly passed a measure to de-prioritize criminal enforcement against mushroom users. It doesn’t legalize it, nor permit the sale or purchase of the mushrooms — it just tells police officers to not make it a priority to seek out and arrest users.
There were critics in both cities who were against this change.
https://www.apnews.com/ff023dfbf4534eba8622f504d272ff00
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/08/denver-decriminalizes-magic-mushrooms-historic-vote/1147857001/
https://wapo.st/2XvYXdU
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New York legislature passes bill banning cat declawing
The New York legislature, in both chambers, passed a bill that would ban cat declawing. Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) said he will review it before making a decision on signing it into law.
The bill would fine veterinarians $1,000 if they declaw cats for nonmedical purposes.
Lawmakers who supported the bill said cat declawing is a cruel, unnecessary amputation that removes a cat’s first bone, tendons, and muscles. Advocates say it’s like chopping off the tip of a human finger.
Declawing is banned in several U.S. cities and most Canadian provinces. It is also banned in several European countries.
https://wapo.st/2K2gdEb
https://twitter.com/GannettAlbany/status/1136287455433437184
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Top News Briefs: Spinning helicopter rescue; wife falls to death after fight with husband; woman charged with pulling gun on black couple at campground
Here are three top news briefs.
The first — there was a viral video of a helicopter rescue of a 74-year-old woman in Arizona who fell while hiking yesterday morning. The woman was strapped on a stretcher attached to a rope, but as the helicopter started to move, the stretcher spun wildly. See this clip from Fox 10 News.
[Video clip]
The air flow from the helicopter’s rotor, called the rotor wash, is what caused the spinning. Officials said there was was a line that was supposed to stop the spinning, but it didn’t work yesterday. The woman was transported to the hospital and is okay, but did experience nausea and dizziness.
The second news — a newlywed couple from Illinois went to a Cardinals baseball game in St. Louis and a few hours later, the wife, Allissa Martin, was found dead after falling 7 floors from a parking garage near the baseball stadium. When police responded, they found the husband, Bradley Jenkins, by the body looking agitated and intoxicated. Police asked him if he was at the top of the garage before she fell, and he said no.
When police went up to the rooftop, they found the wife’s cellphone and it was still recording a video. When they checked the video, it showed that the couple was arguing on the rooftop. The wife told the husband to stop punching her in the face. The phone then drops to the floor, but police could hear the wife screaming and then a short time later, a thump as her body hit the ground. Jenkins was arrested with felony domestic assault and could be charged with homicide after an investigation. The couple both worked as prison guards.
The third news — a 70-year-old woman from Mississippi, Ruby Howell, was arrested and charged with threatening exhibition of a weapon after she pulled a gun on a black couple who visited a KOA campground during Memorial Day weekend to have a picnic with their dog and check out cabins to rent.
The couple, Jessica and Franklin Richardson, said Howell jumped out (from her truck) and pointed the gun at them. A video showed her telling them to get out because they didn’t belong here.
Howell was fired by the campground. The husband is a member of the military and recently came back from a nine-month deployment in the Middle East.
Spinning Helicopter Rescue: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/74-year-old-woman-rescued-after-being-injured-while-hiking-on-piestewa-peak
Wife falls to death: https://wapo.st/2Wg1veL
Woman arrested after pulling gun: https://www.wlbt.com/2019/06/04/woman-charged-after-pulling-gun-black-couple-miss-campground/
Video: https://twitter.com/WashNewsLine/status/1133639031470866432
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Republican Senators considering blocking Trump’s actions on Mexico tariffs and Saudi arms deal
Republicans in the Senate said they may block President Trump on two things — his planned tariffs on Mexico of 5% that could increase to 25% and on his approval of a weapons sale to Saudi Arabia worth $8 billion.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said there is not much support for the tariffs. They are concerned about executive overreach and economic damage to U.S. consumers and businesses.
Trump wants to use the tariffs to force Mexico to do more to stop migrants from flowing into the U.S.
Republican Senators could hold a vote to terminate any tariffs and some think they have enough support to override a Trump veto.
Trump said yesterday in London that it would be foolish for Republicans to block the tariffs.
Now on the second issue, the weapons deal — both Democratic and Republican senators said they would try to pass 22 resolutions to block Trump’s $8 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.
The Trump administration declared a few weeks ago that the growing threat from Iran was an emergency that forced them to bypass Congressional approval for the weapons sales.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said they can’t ignore the behavior of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (in reference to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi) and that it is not the time to do business as usual with Saudi Arabia.
Senators also said they could have enough votes to override a Trump veto.
Mexico tariffs: https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-republicans-weigh-moves-to-block-trump-on-mexico-tariffs-11559666178
Saudi arms sales: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-arms/republican-democratic-senators-seek-to-block-trump-saudi-arms-sales-idUSKCN1T61PL
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CODA Oklahoma City police officer helps Deaf woman in car trouble
A Deaf woman from Oklahoma City, Juliet Joy, had car trouble last week when a tire rolled away into a grass when she was stopped under a highway bridge.
Luckily for her, a police officer who is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) showed up to help her. Her name is Officer Sheena Stoops from the Oklahoma City Police Department.
See this clip from KOCO 5 News.
[Video]
The Oklahoma City Police Department shared Joy’s story on their Facebook page. Joy said she was very relieved that Officer Stoops knew ASL and that it was her first time seeing an officer sign after six years in Oklahoma.
She was able to help Joy arrange a tow truck, contacted a family member, and gave her a ride home. Here is a video clip from Joy that was sent to The Daily Moth.
Joy: I feel inspired and happy. God blessed me. She did a great job helping me communicate with a tow truck and my daughter JoLynn’s father on the phone because I was not sure what to do with my car.
Alex: Joy said she was very thankful that she didn’t get in an accident. She said her car’s lug nut studs snapped because when she got her tires replaced a few months ago, the tire shop did not tighten them well enough.
Here is one more comment from Joy.
Joy: For the Deaf community, we need more police officers who know sign language like her.
Alex: This is a positive story of a police officer interacting with a deaf person in Oklahoma City.
Unfortunately, there were two serious incidents in the city involving deaf people. A deaf man, Magdiel Sanchez, was shot and killed in 2017. Another deaf man, Pearl Pearson Jr, was beaten during an arrest.
If the officers in those incidents were fluent in ASL, would it have made a difference?
https://www.facebook.com/65444419168/posts/10157366589274169?s=24410745&sfns=mo
https://www.koco.com/article/ocpd-officer-helps-deaf-woman-stranded-at-intersection-with-car-problems/27705798?fbclid=IwAR3Wdt8coyv1DsG3cVW_im1sQebssA3w7qr8bh5wARkc81irzBmV19nPXqc
https://nondoc.com/2017/10/11/deaf-magdiel-sanchez-pearl-pearson/
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!