Tuesday, July 23, 2024
It is Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Here are four top stories.
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Secret Service director resigns
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned today, a day after she said she wouldn’t resign after a testy hearing in Congress about the Trump assassination attempt.
Cheatle said in a letter today that she made the decision to step down with a heavy heart and that it’s because of recent events. She said the Secret Service fell short on its mission to protect America’s leaders on the day that Trump was grazed in his ear by a bullet (July 13).
President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her service and said he would appoint a new director soon.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/23/secret-service-resigns-trump-shooting.html
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Sonya Massey fatally shot by cop in her home
In Springfield, Illinois, a deputy shot and killed a Black woman named Sonya Massey in her home on July 6.
The deputy is Sean P. Grayson. He is currently charged with first-degree murder and is in custody without bail.
Body camera videos were released on Monday afternoon and it showed what happened. I watched it and it was disturbing.
On that night, Massey called 911 for help because she thought there was a prowler at her home. The deputies who responded said they looked around and didn’t see anyone.
They then went inside Massey’s home and asked her for her ID while they were in her living room. The deputies noticed that there was a pot of boiling water on the stove and asked her to turn it off because they didn’t want a fire. Massey got off her couch and went to the kitchen and picked up the pot and said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” twice. The deputies seemed to think that Massey would try to throw the hot water at them and shouted a warning and drew their guns at her. Massey said, “I’m sorry” and moved the pot a bit. Deputy Grayson then shot at her — there were three gunshots. Grayson told another deputy that it was a “headshot” and that there was no point in trying to help her with a medical kit. Massey was 36.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty to his murder charge and it is likely that he will claim that he was acting in self-defense because he thought he would get burned. A prosecutor said the use of deadly force was not justified and that this scenario would be similar to an officer jumping in front of a moving vehicle and shooting the driver because they were afraid of getting hit. An expert told CNN that
Grayson could have simply moved away or used a taser or do something other than using his firearm.
There has been a strong response from political leaders. President Joe Biden said the shooting was senseless, horrifying, and heartbreaking.
Massey’s father said it was horrible and heart-wrenching to see the video.
Massey’s family is now working with prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump to seek justice.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/us/sonya-massey-police-shooting/index.html
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Delta struggling to resume normal operations
Delta Air Lines is still struggling to resume normal operations after a worldwide technology outage caused by a software issue by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Other airlines have resumed to nearly normal operations
Delta said it was trying to fix a crew-scheduling program and another application that manages traffic at Delta’s biggest airport hub in Atlanta.
The federal government said it’s received hundreds of complaints about Delta and are now investigating how Delta is treating its passengers.
https://apnews.com/article/outage-airline-delta-40fc208ac838cafab40482b731072018
https://apnews.com/article/technology-outage-delta-air-lines-delays-7361e641fe2c656d7fba06e4a0424c6a
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Florida’s population passes 23 million
ABC News said Florida’s population crossed the 23 million residents mark for the first time this year because of the influx of people moving from other states.
Florida is the third most populous state in the U.S. The first is… California with 39.5 million residents. The second is… Texas with 30.5 million residents.
Florida has been adding about 350,000 people each year this decade.
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That’s all the news for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.