Tuesday, May 25 top stories
Here are today’s top stories.
1.1 One-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder
Today, May 25, is the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer. Videos that showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck, ultimately killing him, outraged the nation and forced conversations about holding police officers and people in power accountable for racism.
1.2
On April 20, just over a month ago, after a televised trial that lasted for weeks, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder and two other charges. He is currently awaiting his sentencing at a prison about 30 minutes away from Minneapolis.
1.3
The City of Minneapolis reached a wrongful death lawsuit settlement with Floyd’s family for $27 million.
1.4
George Floyd’s name and image has been honored in many different ways, from college scholarships to murals to legislative bills.
1.5
Floyd is buried next to his mother in Pearland, Texas.
1.6 NYC men charged with hate crimes in assault of Jewish man
On Thursday, a 29-year-old Jewish man named Joseph Borgen was punched, kicked, and pepper-sprayed by five to six men who yelled “F*** Jews or “F*** Israel.” Borgen was wearing a yarmulke.
Two men were arrested. The first, Waseem Awawde (23), was charged with hate crime assault. The second, Faisal Elezzi (25), also may be charged with hate crime assault. There are still three other suspects out there.
CNN reported that there are anti-Semitic attacks reported across the U.S., especially because of tensions from the deadly war between Israel and Hamas. A synagogue in Arizona had a glass door broken with a rock sized hole and Jewish people at a restaurant in Los Angeles had glass bottles thrown at them from a passing car.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that we have to stand up to anti-Semitism and we have to call it out.
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U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Jerusalem today and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken said the U.S. would send $5.5 million in emergency assistance to help with rebuilding Gaza, but would make sure the money doesn’t get in the hands of Hamas.
Blinken said he had a discussion with Israel about its security needs including re-supplying its Iron Dome system with rocket interceptors.
Blinken then visited the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. He said the U.S. would provide almost $40 million in aid to Palestinians. He announced the U.S. would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, reversing a Trump decision to downgrade the office, which allows the U.S. to have diplomatic relations with Palestinians.
ABC News said the cease-fire is still holding up between Hamas and Israel, but there are still tensions. An Israeli soldier and a civilian were stabbed on Monday in Jerusalem. Police shot and killed the knifeman. Today a Palestinian man was shot and killed by undercover Israeli forces, but it’s not clear why.
A volcano in Congo erupted and sent massive flows of lava into villages. CBS News said at least 32 people were killed, many of them due to car accidents as they tried to escape.
The others died when lava hit their homes or from inhaling smoke or toxic gas. News images show people walking around destroyed and smoldering homes.
The White House announced today that President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16. It will be their first in-person summit.
Axios said this will be “an early test of the Biden administration’s goal of holding Russia accountable for its abuses while seeking a more ‘stable’ and ‘predictable’ relationship.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) tweeted this morning a criticism of Food City, a grocery store chain in the southeast, because its employees who have been fully vaccinated would have a vaccination logo displayed on their name badge (and be allowed to remove their masks). Greene said it was just like how Jewish people were forced by the Nazi Party to wear a gold star.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) said “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling.”
McCarthy then said he is concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism in the Democrat Party.”
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said Greene made an outrageous comment but also said Democrats weren’t speaking out against antisemitism.
That is all the top stories for today. Check out our other videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
Hate crime attacks against Jewish people: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/25/us/second-arrest-new-york-antisemitic-attack/index.html
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/05/24/jewish-man-brutally-beaten-in-manhattans-diamond-district/
Israel: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/25/politics/us-blinken-netanyahu-middle-east-tour-intl/index.html
Congo: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congo-volcano-eruption-death-toll-rises/
Putin-Russia: https://www.axios.com/biden-putin-summit-russia-939c9554-81e0-4241-94d8-b76693ae19f1.html