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Tag: discrimination

  • Appeals court says Georgia may elect utility panel statewide, rejecting a ruling for district voting

    Appeals court says Georgia may elect utility panel statewide, rejecting a ruling for district voting

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    ATLANTA — A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that Georgia can keep statewide elections for its five-member commission regulating utilities, overturning a lower court judge who found statewide elections illegally diluted Black votes.

    The ruling is important beyond Georgia’s Public Service Commission because it could help protect certain statewide elections in other states subject to scrutiny for racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act. It also could signal limits to a new wave of voting rights litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a key part of the law this year in an Alabama case.

    In August 2022, U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg had ordered Georgia’s commissioners elected by district, the first time a statewide voting scheme had been overturned by a federal judge. But a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Grimberg went too far.

    “Georgia chose this electoral format to protect critical policy interests and there is no evidence, or allegation, that race was a motivating factor in this decision,” Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote for the unanimous panel. “On the facts of this case, we conclude that plaintiffs’ novel remedial request fails because Georgia’s chosen form of government for the PSC is afforded protection by federalism and our precedents.”

    Plaintiffs decried the ruling as sanctioning discrimination. Grimberg had found statewide elections illegally handicapped Black-favored candidates, and that such candidates would have a better chance if only voters in a district elected each candidate, making it possible to draw at least one Black-majority district.

    “This ruling is another act of continuing discrimination against Black voters in Georgia,” Brionte McCorkle, the executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters and one of four plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Voters should have an opportunity to vote for a public service commissioner that is responsive to their needs and represents their community. Instead, millions of voters are disenfranchised to maintain outdated and unfair electoral practices.”

    It wasn’t immediately clear if the plaintiffs would further appeal. Another plaintiff, minister and political activist James “Major” Woodall, pledged that “the fight is far from over and we will continue to use every tool in our disposal to gain the relief we seek.”

    If the ruling stands, it could put three of the five Georgia commission seats on 2024 ballots. Commissioners typically serve staggered six-year terms, but elections for the places held by Commissioners Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols were delayed from 2022 by Grimberg’s ruling. Johnson and Echols had already each won the GOP nomination.

    A third Republican, Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, was already scheduled for election in 2024. Commissioners are required to live in particular districts under state law, but run statewide.

    Retaining statewide elections enhances the chance that all five seats will remain in Republican hands, as they have been for years. Some Democrats who want elections by district would likely be less favorable to utilities. The commission determines how much Georgia Power Co. and other regulated utilities are allowed to bill millions of ratepayers, and what power plants and other facilities the utilities can spend on.

    It wasn’t immediately clear Friday if parties would nominate new candidates, or if the 2022 nominees would stand. It’s also unclear whether delayed elections would take place in November 2024 when voter turnout will be highest, or at some other time. No other statewide offices besides public service commission are scheduled for 2024 ballots.

    The appeals court said the lawsuit must fail because the plaintiffs hadn’t proposed a plan to remedy discrimination while maintaining a statewide election system, saying courts can’t impose a new form of government as part of a Voting Rights Act remedy.

    “Plaintiffs’ novel proposal is that we dismantle Georgia’s statewide PSC system and replace it with an entirely new districted system,” the court wrote. “But we have never gone this far.”

    The panel also cited earlier cases that upheld at-large elections for judges, saying a district system could lead commissioners to favor their own districts over statewide concerns.

    “If each commissioner represented only a district, then important questions of utility regulation — such as the location of energy and infrastructure — could turn into a zero-sum game between commissioners beholden to their districts instead of a collaborative effort to reach the best result for the entire state,” the court wrote.

    Plaintiffs said the current commission is unresponsive to Black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills.

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  • Far-right conspiracy theorists accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a neo-Nazi. Then Elon Musk got involved | CNN Business

    Far-right conspiracy theorists accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a neo-Nazi. Then Elon Musk got involved | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Ben Brody says his life was going fine. He had just finished college, stayed out of trouble, and was prepping for law school. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Elon Musk used his considerable social media clout to amplify an online mob’s misguided rants accusing the 22-year-old from California of being an undercover agent in a neo-Nazi group.

    The claim, Brody told CNN, was as bizarre as it was baseless.

    But the fact he bore a vague resemblance to a person allegedly in the group, that he was Jewish, and, that he once stated in a college fraternity profile posted online that he aspired to one day work for the government, was more than enough information for internet trolls to falsely conclude Brody was an undercover government agent (a “Fed”) planted inside the neo-Nazi group to make them look bad.

    For Brody, the fallout was immediate. Overnight, he became a central character in a story spun by people seeking to deny and downplay the actions of hate groups in the United States today.

    The lies and taunts, which Musk engaged with on social media, turned his life upside down, Brody said. At one point, he said, he and his mother had to flee their home for fear of being attacked.

    Now, he’s fighting back.

    Brody filed a defamation lawsuit last month against Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter. The suit seeks damages in excess of $1 million. Brody says he wants the billionaire to apologize and retract the false claims about him.

    Brody’s lawyer—who is the same attorney who successfully sued conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over his lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre —said he hopes the suit will force one of the world’s richest and most powerful men to reckon with his careless and harmful online behavior.

    “This case strikes at the heart of something that I think is going really wrong in this country,” attorney Mark Bankston said in an interview with CNN. “How powerful people, very influential people, are being far too reckless about the things they say about private people, people just trying to go about their lives who’ve done nothing to cause this attention.”

    Asked for comment on the lawsuit, an attorney for Musk told CNN “we expect this case to be dismissed.” Musk’s lawyers have until Jan 5, 2024, to file their response in court.

    On the night of Saturday, June 24, 2023, Ben Brody was in Riverside, California.

    About 1,000 miles away, a gay pride event was being held near Portland, Oregon. In recent years, the city has become a flashpoint for often violent clashes over the country’s ongoing culture wars.

    It was no great surprise then that the event became a target for rival far-right groups and neo-Nazis who began fighting among themselves while protesting. Video of the skirmish, where the far-right protesters pushed and pulled at each other, quickly spread across social media.

    Online conspiracy theorists soon jumped into the fray.

    Rather than accept the fact that two far-right groups who have previously embraced violence were responsible for the clash, online trolls insisted it must be a so-called “false flag” event – a set-up of some kind to make the neo-Nazis look bad.

    That’s when they found Ben Brody.

    The day after the Pride event, Brody began getting text messages from his friends telling him to check out social media.

    “You’re being accused of being a neo-Nazi fed,” he recalled some of his friends telling him.

    Somehow, someone on social media had found a photo of Brody online and decided he looked like one of the people involved in the clash.

    Anonymous people online, self-appointed internet detectives, began digging and found out Brody was Jewish and had been a political science major at the University of California, Riverside. On his college fraternity’s webpage, he had once stated he wanted to work for the government.

    “I put that I wanted to work for the government. And that’s just because I didn’t know specifically what part of the government I wanted to work for. You know, I was like, I could be a lawyer,” Brody recalled in an interview with CNN.

    His being Jewish was relevant to them because conspiracy theories are often steeped in antisemitism – suggesting there’s a Jewish plan to control the world.

    Brody’s social media inboxes filled up with messages, such as “Fed,” “Nazi,” and “We got you.” He and his mom were forced to leave their family home after their address was posted online, he said.

    Some of Brody’s friends began posting online, trying to correct the record and explain this was a case of mistaken identity. Brody himself posted a video to Instagram where he desperately tried to prove his innocence. He even went as far as getting time-stamped video surveillance footage showing him in a restaurant in Riverside, California, at the time of the brawl in Oregon, as proof he could not have been at the rally.

    But to no avail. The conspiracy theory kept spreading across the internet, including on X. But it wasn’t just anonymous trolls fueling the lie. Musk, the platform’s owner, had joined in, amplifying the lie to his millions of followers.

    Video from the Oregon event showed the masks of at least one protester being removed during the fight between the opposing far-right groups. Musk asked on X on June 25, “Who were the unmasked individuals?”

    Another X user linked to a tweet alleging Brody was one of the unmasked individuals. The tweet highlighted a line from Brody’s fraternity profile that noted he wanted to work for the government after graduation.

    The tweet claimed the unmasked alleged member of the far-right group was Brody, pointing out he was a “political science student at a liberal school on a career path towards the feds.”

    “Very odd,” Musk responded.

    Another user shared the tweet alleging Brody’s involvement and commented, “Remember when they called us conspiracy theorists for saying the feds were planting fake Nazis at rallies?”

    “Always remove their masks,” Musk replied.

    On June 27, having engaged with conspiracy theories about the subject over a number of days, Musk alleged that the Oregon skirmish was a false flag. “Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation,” he tweeted.

    “I knew that this was snowballing, but once Elon Musk commented, I was like, ‘boom, that’s the final nail in the coffin,’” Brody recalled.

    Musk has more followers than anyone else on X – approximately 150 million at the end of June, around the time he tweeted about the fight in Oregon, according to records from the Internet Archive. That tweet has been viewed more than 1.2 million times, according to X’s own data.

    Brody worried his name would forever be associated with neo-Nazism, that he wouldn’t be able to get a job. Though he had finished college, he hadn’t yet graduated, and he said some of the accounts messaging him were threatening to contact his university. “My life is ruined,” he thought.

    Attempting to clear his name, he gave an interview to Vice.com, which caught the attention of Mark Bankston.

    Bankston is best known as the lawyer who successfully took on the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in court on behalf of parents who lost their children in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

    Bankston said Brody’s case is not only an opportunity to help clear the young man’s name but could also force what he views as a necessary conversation about the vitriolic nature of online discourse.

    The lawsuit filed last month in Travis County, Texas (the same county in which Bankston successfully sued Jones), alleges Musk’s claims about Brody are part of a “serial pattern of slander” by the billionaire.

    Musk, the suit argues, is “perhaps the most influential of all influencers, and his endorsement of the accusation against Ben galvanized other social media influencers and users to continue their attacks and harassment, as well as post accusations against Ben that will remain online forever.”

    Soon after he took over Twitter in 2022, Musk said the platform must “become by far the most accurate source of information about the world.”

    But, on the contrary, the suit alleges, “Musk has been personally using the platform to spread false statements on a consistent basis while propping up and amplifying the most reprehensible elements of conspiracy-addled Twitter.”

    The suit outlines how Musk has engaged with accounts that traffic in racism and antisemitism and lists instances in which he publicly shared or engaged with conspiracy theories – including last October when he shared false claims about the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

    The suit alleges that in August after Musk was made aware through his lawyers about Brody’s case for defamation, Musk refused to delete his tweets.

    Bankston and his client said the lawsuit is about a lot more than money.

    “I just want to make things right,” Brody told CNN. “It’s not about vengeance. I’m not angry. It’s not resentment. I just want to make things right, to get an apology, so that this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”

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  • Musk Strategy to Contain Anti-Semitism Fallout Is to Go ‘Thermonuclear’

    Musk Strategy to Contain Anti-Semitism Fallout Is to Go ‘Thermonuclear’

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    Elon Musk employed an aggressive strategy—including the threat of a “thermonuclear” lawsuit— to contain the fallout after his endorsement of anti-Semitic rhetoric on X that prompted an advertising backlash at the billionaire’s social media company and some on Wall Street to call for his censure.

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  • IBM pulls ads from X after Elon Musk’s incendiary comments over white pride

    IBM pulls ads from X after Elon Musk’s incendiary comments over white pride

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    IBM Corp.
    IBM,
    +0.31%
    has abruptly pulled ads from X, formerly Twitter, amid a maelstrom of controversial comments from billionaire owner Elon Musk and the placement of IBM ads.

    “IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination and we have immediately suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation,” the company said in a statement emailed to MarketWatch.

    IBM suspended advertising following a report by the Financial Times on Thursday that IBM ads appeared next to posts supporting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. A Media Matters study also found ads from Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +0.90%    ,
    Oracle Corp.
    ORCL,
    +0.53%    ,
    and Comcast Corp.’s
    CMCSA,
    -0.28%
    Xfinity and Bravo were adjacent to pro-Nazi content.

    On Wednesday, Musk agreed with a post on X supportive of an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jewish people hold a “dialectical hatred” of white people. “You have said the actual truth,” Musk wrote in response to the post.

    Compounding matters, Musk on Thursday said on X it was “super messed up” that white people are not, in the words of one far-right user’s tweet, “allowed to be proud of their race.”

    Adding fuel to the fire, Musk said on Wednesday that the Jewish advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League “unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel.” (Musk has threatened to sue the ADL because of its criticism of lax moderation practices on X that it says have allowed antisemitism to spread.)

    The cascading conflagration prompted Tesla Inc.
    TSLA,
    -3.81%
    bull and investment adviser Ross Gerber to grumble on X: “Getting a flood of messages from clients wanting out of tesla and anything to do with Elon Musk. Many saying they are selling their cars as well. What is he doing to the tesla brand??!!?!?”

    Earlier this year, Gerber backed down from his “friendly activist” efforts to join Tesla’s board, saying he felt his concerns had been addressed. His firm, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, has its own ETF, AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki 
    GK,
     which has Tesla as its top investment, and has attracted many clients with Tesla shares in its portfolios

    In an interview on CNBC late Thursday, Gerber said that while he is not selling his Tesla stock, ” I’m not going to mince words about it anymore as a shareholder. It’s absolutely outrageous, his behavior and the damage he’s caused to the brand.”

    Gerber said Musk has essentially abdicated his responsibilities as Tesla CEO: “It’s all about Twitter, and what he can tweet, and how many people he can piss off… What’s going to happen to Tesla over the next 10 years, are they gonna achieve their mission if the CEO isn’t actually the CEO? Because he’s certainly not acting as the CEO of Tesla.”

    An X executive told MarketWatch that the company did a “sweep” of the accounts next to the IBM ads. Those accounts “will no longer be monetizable” and specific posts will be labeled “Sensitive Media.”

    The executive said 99% of measured ad placements on X this year have appeared adjacent to content scoring “above the brand safety floor” criteria set by industry standards.

    Late Thursday, X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, tweeted: “X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board — I think that’s something we can and should all agree on. When it comes to this platform — X has also been extremely clear about our efforts to combat antisemitism and discrimination. There’s no place for it anywhere in the world — it’s ugly and wrong. Full stop.”

    The posts and ad placement come amid a wave of antisemitism on digital forums including X and a downturn in advertising on the platform linked to hate speech and misinformation. Musk said in July that ad revenue had plunged about 50%.

    The latest kerfuffle is likely to complicate the efforts of Yaccarino, who was hired in June from Comcast Corp.’s
    CMCSA,
    -0.28%
    NBCUniversal to sway advertising agencies and major brands to stay on, or initiate relationships with, the platform now known as X.

    Tesla shares fell nearly 4% on Thursday but are still up about 90% to date in 2023.

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  • Robert De Niro’s Production Company Found Liable for Gender Discrimination

    Robert De Niro’s Production Company Found Liable for Gender Discrimination

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    For the past few years, Robert De Niro and Graham Chase Robinson have been locked in a legal dispute after the actor claimed in a 2019 lawsuit that his former assistant had misused company funds for her own purposes. Robinson quickly responded with a lawsuit alleging that her boss had harassed and discriminated against her on the basis of gender.

    The matter came to a head in a Manhattan federal court over the past two weeks, with each party testifying about the other’s work habits and temperament. The civil trial addressed both lawsuits. On Thursday, according to The New York Times, a jury found neither De Niro nor Robinson personally liable for the other’s claims, but ruled that Canal Productions, the actor’s company, was liable for gender discrimination and retaliation. Robinson was awarded $1.26 million. “Not only did Ms. Robinson win her case against Canal,” David Sanford, a lawyer for Robinson, said in a statement, “but the jury completely vindicated Ms. Robinson by finding De Niro’s claims against her to be without merit.”

    During the trial, Robinson testified that De Niro had given her “stereotypically female” work around his house. She also said that a dispute between her and De Niro’s girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, ultimately led to her resignation from Canal Productions. One of De Niro’s lawyers, Richard C. Schoenstein, said outside the courtroom that “Mr. De Niro has been exonerated” in light of the jury not finding him personally at fault.

    “I’ve been so humiliated and embarrassed, and I feel so judged,” Robinson testified. “I feel just so damaged, in a way.”

    De Niro made headlines during the trial for his irritated testimony. “You got me!” he exploded at one point, after acknowledging that he had asked Robinson to scratch his back on two occasions when he couldn’t reach an itch. “It was never done with any disrespect.”

    Robinson understood the interactions differently, describing the interactions during her testimony as “creepy” and “disgusting.”

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    Dan Adler

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  • Jury awards $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former assistant in gender discrimination lawsuit

    Jury awards $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former assistant in gender discrimination lawsuit

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    NEW YORK — A jury awarded more than $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former personal assistant Thursday, finding that a company he formed to look after his personal needs was liable for gender discrimination and retaliation after the former assistant accused the actor of subjecting her to a toxic work environment.

    While the jury found De Niro was not personally liable for the abuse, they said his company, Canal Productions, should make two payments of $632,142 to his longtime personal assistant, Graham Chase Robinson.

    De Niro, who spent three days at the two-week trial — including two on the witness stand — has been ensnared in dueling lawsuits with Robinson since she quit in April 2019. He was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read aloud on Thursday afternoon.

    Robinson, 41, testified that De Niro, 80, and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, teamed up against her to turn a job she once loved into a nightmare. She smiled and hugged all her lawyers after the jury exited the room. She also smiled as the verdict was being delivered.

    De Niro attorney Richard Schoenstein said outside court that lawyers will try to reduce the size of the award with post-trial motions.

    De Niro and Chen each testified that Robinson became the problem when her aspirations to move beyond Canal Productions, the De Niro company that employed her, led her to make escalating demands to remain on the job.

    In two days on the witness stand, the actor told jurors that he boosted Robinson’s salary from less than $100,000 annually to $300,000 and elevated her title to vice president of production and finance at her request, even though her responsibilities remained largely the same.

    When she quit, De Niro said, Robinson stole about $85,000 in airline miles from him, betrayed his trust and violated his unwritten rules to use common sense and always do the right thing.

    At times, De Niro acknowledged from the witness stand many of the claims Robinson made to support her $12 million gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, including that he may have told her that his personal trainer was paid more than her in part because he had a family to support.

    He agreed he had asked her to scratch his back on at least two occasions, dismissing a question about it with: “Ok, twice? You got me!”

    He admitted that he had berated her, though he disputed ever aiming a profanity her way, saying: “I was never abusive, ever.”

    He also denied ever yelling at her, saying every little thing she was trying to catch him with was nonsense and that, at most, he had raised his voice in her presence but never with disrespect. Then, he looked at her sitting between her lawyers in the well of the courtroom and shouted: “Shame on you, Chase Robinson!”

    De Niro said Robinson was wrong to take 5 million airline miles from his company’s accounts, but he acknowledged that he had told her she could take 2 million miles and that there were no strict rules.

    Robinson testified that she quit her job during an “emotional and mental breakdown” that left her overwhelmed and feeling like she’d “hit rock bottom.”

    She said she has suffered from anxiety and depression since quitting and hasn’t worked in four years despite applying for 638 jobs.

    “I don’t have a social life,” she said. “I’m so humiliated and embarrassed and feel so judged. I feel so damaged in a way. … I lost my life. Lost my career. Lost my financial independence. I lost everything.”

    De Niro’s lawyers sued Robinson for breach of loyalty and fiduciary duty even before her lawsuit was filed against him in 2019. They sought $6 million in damages, including a return of the 5 million airline miles. The jury flatly rejected the claims.

    In a closing argument Wednesday, Schoenstein said the miles that were taken were worth about $85,000. He said jurors could order Robinson to return some of her salary, but, he added: “We’re not looking for you to punish her.”

    In his closing, Robinson attorney Brent Hannafan called the two weeks of court proceedings a civil rights trial and urged jurors to return a verdict “not just for Ms. Robinson, but for all civil rights litigants.”

    De Niro has won two Oscars over the past five decades in films such as “Raging Bull” and “The Deer Hunter.” He’s in the Martin Scorsese film “Killers of the Flower Moon” that’s in theaters now.

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  • Controversial Police Encounters Fast Facts | CNN

    Controversial Police Encounters Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at controversial police encounters that have prompted protests over the past three decades. This select list includes cases in which police officers were charged or a grand jury was convened.

    March 3, 1991 – LAPD officers beat motorist Rodney King after he leads police on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County. George Holliday videotapes the beating from his apartment balcony. The video shows police hitting King more than 50 times with their batons. Over 20 officers are present at the scene, mostly from the LAPD. King suffers 11 fractures and other injuries.

    March 15, 1991 – A Los Angeles grand jury indicts Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officers Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno in connection with the beating.

    May 10, 1991 – A grand jury refuses to indict 17 officers who stood by at the King beating and did nothing.

    April 29, 1992 – The four LAPD officers are acquitted. Riots break out at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles. Governor Pete Wilson declares a state of emergency and calls in the National Guard. Riots in the next few days leave more than 50 people dead and cause nearly $1 billion in property damage.

    May 1, 1992 – King makes an emotional plea for calm, “People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?”

    August 4, 1992 – A federal grand jury returns indictments against Koon, Powell, Wind, and Briseno on the charge of violating King’s civil rights.

    April 17, 1993 – Koon and Powell are convicted for violating King’s civil rights. Wind and Briseno are found not guilty. No disturbances follow the verdict. On August 4, both Koon and Powell are sentenced to 30 months in prison. Powell is found guilty of violating King’s constitutional right to be free from an arrest made with “unreasonable force.” Koon, the ranking officer, is convicted of permitting the civil rights violation to occur.

    April 19, 1994 – King is awarded $3.8 million in compensatory damages in a civil lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. King had demanded $56 million, or $1 million for every blow struck by the officers.

    June 1, 1994 – In a civil trial against the police officers, a jury awards King $0 in punitive damages. He had asked for $15 million.

    June 17, 2012 – King is found dead in his swimming pool.

    November 5, 1992 – Two white police officers approach Malice Wayne Green, a 35-year-old black motorist, after he parks outside a suspected drug den. Witnesses say the police strike the unarmed man in the head repeatedly with heavy flashlights. The officers claim they feared Green was trying to reach for one of their weapons. Green dies of his injuries later that night.

    November 16, 1992 – Two officers, Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn, are charged with second-degree murder. Sgt. Freddie Douglas, a supervisor who arrived on the scene after a call for backup, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and willful neglect of duty. These charges are later dismissed. Another officer, Robert Lessnau, is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

    November 18, 1992 – The Detroit Free Press reports that toxicology tests revealed alcohol and a small amount of cocaine in Green’s system. A medical examiner later states that Green’s head injuries, combined with the cocaine and alcohol in his system, led to his death.

    December 1992 – The Detroit police chief fires the four officers.

    August 23, 1993 – Nevers and Budzyn are convicted of murder after a 45-day trial. Lessnau is acquitted. Nevers sentence is 12-25 years, while Budzyn’s sentence is 8-18 years.

    1997-1998 – The Michigan Supreme Court orders a retrial for Budzyn due to possible jury bias. During the second trial, a jury convicts Budzyn of a less serious charge, involuntary manslaughter, and he is released with time served.

    2000-2001 – A jury finds Nevers guilty of involuntary manslaughter after a second trial. He is released from prison in 2001.

    August 9, 1997 – Abner Louima, a 33-year-old Haitian immigrant, is arrested for interfering with officers trying to break up a fight in front of the Club Rendez-vous nightclub in Brooklyn. Louima alleges, while handcuffed, police officers lead him to the precinct bathroom and sodomized him with a plunger or broomstick.

    August 15, 1997 – Police officers Justin Volpe and Charles Schwarz are charged with aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree assault.

    August 16, 1997 – Thousands of angry protesters gather outside Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct to demonstrate against what they say is a long-standing problem of police brutality against minorities.

    August 18, 1997 – Two more officers, Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder, are charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

    February 26, 1998 – Volpe, Bruder, Schwarz and Wiese are indicted on federal civil rights charges. A fifth officer, Michael Bellomo, is accused of helping the others cover up the alleged beating, as well as an alleged assault on another Haitian immigrant, Patrick Antoine, the same night.

    May 1999 – Volpe pleads guilty to beating and sodomizing Louima. He is later sentenced to 30 years in prison.

    June 8, 1999 – Schwarz is convicted of beating Louima, then holding him down while he was being tortured. Wiese, Bruder, and Bellomo are acquitted. Schwarz is later sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison for perjury.

    March 6, 2000 – In a second trial, Schwarz, Wiese, and Bruder are convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice by covering up the attack. On February 28, 2002, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturns their convictions.

    July 12, 2001 – Louima receives $8.75 million in a settlement agreement with the City of New York and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

    September 2002 – Schwarz pleads guilty to perjury and is sentenced to five years in prison. He had been scheduled to face a new trial for civil rights violations but agreed to a deal.

    February 4, 1999 – Amadou Diallo, 22, a street vendor from West Africa, is confronted outside his home in the Bronx by four NYPD officers who are searching the neighborhood for a rapist. When Diallo reaches for his wallet, the officers open fire, reportedly fearing he was pulling out a gun. They fire 41 times and hit him 19 times, killing him.

    March 24, 1999 – More than 200 protestors are arrested outside NYPD headquarters. For weeks, activists have gathered to protest the use of force by NYPD officers.

    March 25, 1999 – A Bronx grand jury votes to indict the four officers – Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy – for second-degree murder. On February 25, 2000, they are acquitted.

    January 2001 – The US Justice Department announces it will not pursue federal civil rights charges against the officers.

    January 2004 – Diallo’s family receives $3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.

    September 4, 2005 – Six days after Hurricane Katrina devastates the area, New Orleans police officers receive a radio call that two officers are down under the Danziger vertical-lift bridge. According to the officers, people are shooting at them and they have returned fire.

    – Brothers Ronald and Lance Madison, along with four members of the Bartholomew family, are shot by police officers. Ronald Madison, 40, who is intellectually disabled, and James Brisette, 17 (some sources say 19), are fatally wounded.

    December 28, 2006 – Police Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius and officers Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso are charged with first-degree murder. Officers Robert Barrios, Michael Hunter and Ignatius Hills are charged with attempted murder.

    August 2008 – State charges against the officers are thrown out.

    July 12, 2010 – Four officers are indicted on federal charges of murdering Brissette: Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso. Faulcon is also charged with Madison’s murder. Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso, along with Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue are charged with covering up the shooting.

    April 8, 2010 – Hunter pleads guilty in federal court of covering up the police shooting. In December, he is sentenced to eight years in prison.

    August 5, 2011 – The jury finds five officers guilty of civil rights and obstruction charges: Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman.

    October 5, 2011 – Hills receives a six and a half year sentence for his role in the shooting.

    April 4, 2012 – A federal judge sentences five officers to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for the shootings of unarmed civilians. Faulcon receives 65 years. Bowen and Gisevius both receive 40 years. Villavaso receives 38 years. Kaufman, who was involved in the cover up, receives six years.

    March 2013 – After a January 2012 mistrial, Dugue’s trial is delayed indefinitely.

    September 17, 2013 – Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman are awarded a new trial.

    April 20, 2016 – Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon, Villavaso and Kaufman plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.

    November 25, 2006 – Sean Bell, 23, is fatally shot by NYPD officers outside a Queens bar the night before his wedding. Two of his companions, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, are wounded. Officers reportedly fired 50 times at the men.

    March 2007 – Three of the five officers involved in the shooting are indicted: Detectives Gescard F. Isnora and Michael Oliver are charged with manslaughter, and Michael Oliver is charged with reckless endangerment. On April 25, 2008, the three officers are acquitted of all charges.

    July 27, 2010 – New York City settles a lawsuit for more than $7 million filed by Bell’s family and two of his friends.

    2009 – Oakland, California – Oscar Grant

    January 1, 2009 – San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer Johannes Mehserle shoots Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old, in the back while he is lying face down on a platform at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland.

    January 7, 2009 – Footage from station KTVU shows demonstrators vandalizing businesses and assaulting police in Oakland during a protest. About 105 people are arrested. Some protesters lie on their stomachs, saying they are showing solidarity with Grant, who was shot in the back.

    January 27, 2010 – The mother of Grant’s young daughter receives a $1.5 million settlement from her lawsuit against BART.

    July 8, 2010 – A jury finds Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. At the trial, Mehserle says that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle is sentenced to two years in prison. Outrage over the light sentence leads to a night of violent protests.

    June 2011 – Mehserle is released from prison.

    July 12, 2013 – The movie, “Fruitvale Station” opens in limited release. It dramatizes the final hours of Grant’s life.

    July 5, 2011 – Fullerton police officers respond to a call about a homeless man looking into car windows and pulling on car handles. Surveillance camera footage shows Kelly Thomas being beaten and stunned with a Taser by police. Thomas, who was mentally ill, dies five days later in the hospital. When the surveillance video of Thomas’s beating is released in May 2012, it sparks a nationwide outcry.

    May 9, 2012 – Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force. On January 13, 2014, a jury acquits Ramos and Cicinelli.

    May 16, 2012 – The City of Fullerton awards $1 million to Thomas’ mother, Cathy Thomas.

    September 28, 2012 – A third police officer, Joseph Wolfe, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive force in connection with Thomas’ death. The charges are later dropped.

    July 17, 2014 – Eric Garner, 43, dies after Officer Daniel Pantaleo uses a department-banned chokehold on him during an arrest for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. Garner dies later that day.

    August 1, 2014 – The New York City Medical Examiner rules Garner’s death a homicide.

    December 3, 2014 – A grand jury decides not to indict Pantaleo. Protests are held in New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Oakland, California. Demonstrators chant Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe!”

    July 14, 2015 – New York settles with Garner’s estate for $5.9 million.

    August 19, 2019 – The NYPD announces Pantaleo has been fired and will not receive his pension.

    August 21, 2019 – Pantaleo’s supervisor, Sgt. Kizzy Adonis, pleads no contest to a disciplinary charge of failure to supervise, and must forfeit the monetary value of 20 vacation days.

    August 9, 2014 – During a struggle, a police officer fatally shoots Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old.

    August 9-10, 2014 – Approximately 1,000 demonstrators protest Brown’s death. The Ferguson-area protest turns violent and police begin using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. Black Lives Matter, a protest movement that grew out of the Trayvon Martin shooting in 2012, grows in visibility during the Ferguson demonstrations.

    August 15, 2014 – Police identify the officer as 28-year-old Darren Wilson. Wilson is put on paid administrative leave after the incident.

    August 18, 2014 – Governor Jay Nixon calls in the Missouri National Guard to protect the police command center.

    November 24, 2014 – A grand jury does not indict Wilson for Brown’s shooting. Documents show that Wilson fired his gun 12 times. Protests erupt nationwide after the hearing.

    November 29, 2014 – Wilson resigns from the Ferguson police force.

    March 11, 2015 – Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigns a week after a scathing Justice Department report slams his department.

    August 9-10, 2015 – The anniversary observations of Brown’s death are largely peaceful during the day. After dark, shots are fired, businesses are vandalized and there are tense standoffs between officers and protestors, according to police. The next day, a state of emergency is declared and fifty-six people are arrested during a demonstration at a St. Louis courthouse.

    June 20, 2017 – A settlement is reached in the Brown family wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson. While the details of the settlement are not disclosed to the public, US Federal Judge Richard Webber calls the settlement, “fair and reasonable compensation.”

    October 20, 2014 – Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shoots and kills Laquan McDonald, 17. Van Dyke says he fired in self-defense after McDonald lunged at him with a knife, but dashcam video shows McDonald walking away from police. Later, an autopsy shows McDonald was shot 16 times.

    April 15, 2015 – The city agrees to pay $5 million to McDonald’s family.

    November 19, 2015 – A judge in Chicago orders the city to release the police dashcam video that shows the shooting. For months, the city had fought attempts to have the video released to the public, saying it could jeopardize any ongoing investigation. The decision is the result of a Freedom of Information Act request by freelance journalist, Brandon Smith.

    November 24, 2015 – Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder.

    December 1, 2015 – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announces he has asked for the resignation of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

    August 30, 2016 – Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson files administrative charges against six officers involved in the shooting. Five officers will have their cases heard by the Chicago Police Board, which will rule if the officers will be terminated. The sixth officer charged has resigned.

    March 2017 – Van Dyke is indicted on 16 additional counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

    June 27, 2017 – Three officers are indicted on felony conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice charges for allegedly lying to investigators.

    October 5, 2018 – Van Dyke is found guilty of second-degree murder and of 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, but not guilty of official misconduct. Though he was originally charged with first-degree murder, jurors were instructed on October 4 that they could consider second-degree murder. He is sentenced to six years and nine months in prison. On February 3, 2022, Van Dyke is released early from prison.

    January 17, 2019 – Cook County Associate Judge Domenica Stephenson finds three Chicago police officers not guilty of covering up details in the 2014 killing of McDonald. Stephenson’s ruling came more than a month after the officers’ five-day bench trial ended.

    July 18, 2019 – The Chicago Police Board announces that four Chicago police officers, Sgt. Stephen Franko, Officer Janet Mondragon, Officer Daphne Sebastian and Officer Ricardo Viramontes, have been fired for covering up the fatal shooting of McDonald.

    October 9, 2019 – Inspector General Joseph Ferguson releases a report detailing a cover-up involving 16 officers and supervisors.

    April 4, 2015 – North Charleston police officer Michael Slager fatally shoots Walter Scott, 50, an unarmed motorist stopped for a broken brake light. Slager says he feared for his life after Scott grabbed his Taser.

    April 7, 2015 – Cellphone video of the incident is released. It shows Scott running away and Slager shooting him in the back. Slager is charged with first-degree murder.

    October 8, 2015 – The North Charleston City Council approves a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Walter Scott.

    May 11, 2016 – A federal grand jury indicts Slager for misleading investigators and violating the civil rights of Walter Scott.

    December 5, 2016 – After three days of deliberations, the jury is unable to reach a verdict and the judge declares a mistrial in the case. The prosecutor says that the state will try Slager again.

    May 2, 2017 – Slager pleads guilty to a federal charge of using excessive force. State murder charges against Slager – as well as two other federal charges – will be dismissed as part of a plea deal. On December 7, 2017, Slager is sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

    April 12, 2015 – Police arrest 25-year-old Freddie Gray on a weapons charge after he is found with a knife in his pocket. Witness video contains audio of Gray screaming as officers carry him to the prisoner transport van. After arriving at the police station, Gray is transferred to a trauma clinic with a severe spinal injury. He falls into a coma and dies one week later.

    April 21, 2015 – The names of six officers involved in the arrest are released. Lt. Brian Rice, 41, Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, Sgt. Alicia White, 30, Officer William Porter, 25, Officer Garrett Miller, 26, and Officer Edward Nero, 29, are all suspended.

    April 24, 2015 – Baltimore police acknowledge Gray did not get timely medical care after his arrest and was not buckled into a seat belt while being transported in the police van.

    April 27, 2015 – Protests turn into riots on the day of Gray’s funeral. At least 20 officers are injured as police and protesters clash on the streets. Gov. Larry Hogan’s office declares a state of emergency and activates the National Guard to address the unrest.

    May 21, 2015 – A Baltimore grand jury indicts the six officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray. The officers face a range of charges from involuntary manslaughter to reckless endangerment. Goodson, the driver of the transport van, will face the most severe charge: second-degree depraved-heart murder.

    September 10, 2015 – Judge Barry Williams denies the defendants’ motion to move their trials out of Baltimore, a day after officials approve a $6.4 million deal to settle all civil claims tied to Gray’s death.

    December 16, 2015 – The judge declares a mistrial in Porter’s case after jurors say they are deadlocked.

    May 23, 2016 – Nero is found not guilty.

    June 23, 2016 – Goodson is acquitted of all charges.

    July 18, 2016 – Rice, the highest-ranking officer to stand trial, is found not guilty on all charges.

    July 27, 2016 – Prosecutors drop charges against the three remaining officers awaiting trial in connection with Gray’s death.

    August 10, 2016 – A Justice Department investigation finds that the Baltimore Police Department engages in unconstitutional practices that lead to disproportionate rates of stops, searches and arrests of African-Americans. The report also finds excessive use of force against juveniles and people with mental health disabilities.

    January 12, 2017 – The city of Baltimore agrees to a consent decree with sweeping reforms proposed by the Justice Department.

    2016 – Falcon Heights, Minnesota – Philando Castile

    July 6, 2016 – Police officer Jeronimo Yanez shoots and kills Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live-streams the aftermath of the confrontation, and says Castile was reaching for his identification when he was shot.

    November 16, 2016 – Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

    December 15, 2016 – The Justice Department announces it will conduct a review of the St. Anthony Police Department, which services Falcon heights and two other towns.

    February 27, 2017 – Yanez pleads not guilty.

    June 16, 2017 – A jury finds Yanez not guilty on all counts. The city says it will offer Yanez a voluntary separation agreement from the police department.

    June 26, 2017 – It is announced that the family of Castile has reached a $3 million settlement with the city of St. Anthony, Minnesota.

    November 29, 2017 – The city of St. Anthony announces that Reynolds has settled with two cities for $800,000. St. Anthony will pay $675,000 of the settlement, while an insurance trust will pay $125,000 on behalf of Roseville.

    September 16, 2016 – Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby fatally shoots Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old unarmed black man, after his car is found abandoned in the middle of the road.

    September 19, 2016 – The Tulsa Police Department releases video of the incident captured by a police helicopter, showing Shelby and other officers at the scene. At a news conference, the police chief tells reporters Crutcher was unarmed. Both the US Department of Justice and state authorities launch investigations into the officer-involved shooting.

    September 22, 2016 – Officer Shelby is charged with felony first-degree manslaughter.

    April 2, 2017 – During an interview on “60 Minutes,” Shelby says race was not a factor in her decision to open fire, and Crutcher “caused” his death when he ignored her commands, reaching into his vehicle to retrieve what she believed was a gun. “I saw a threat and I used the force I felt necessary to stop a threat.”

    May 17, 2017 – Shelby is acquitted.

    July 14, 2017 – Shelby announces she will resign from the Tulsa Police Department in August. On August 10, she joins the Rogers County, Oklahoma, Sheriff’s Office as a reserve deputy.

    October 25, 2017 – A Tulsa County District Court judge grants Shelby’s petition to have her record expunged.

    June 19, 2018 – Antwon Rose II, an unarmed 17-year-old, is shot and killed by police officer Michael Rosfeld in East Pittsburgh. Rose had been a passenger in a car that was stopped by police because it matched the description of a car that was involved in an earlier shooting. Rose and another passenger ran from the vehicle, and Rosfeld opened fire, striking Rose three times, Allegheny County police says.

    June 27, 2018 – The Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, district attorney charges Rosfeld with criminal homicide.

    March 22, 2019 – A jury finds Rosfeld not guilty on all counts.

    October 28, 2019 – A $2 million settlement is finalized in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Rosfeld and East Pittsburgh.

    September 1, 2018 – During a traffic stop, O’Shae Terry is gunned down by an Arlington police officer. Terry, 24, was pulled over for having an expired temporary tag on his car. During the stop, officers reportedly smelled marijuana in the vehicle. Police video from the scene shows officer Bau Tran firing into the car as Terry tries to drive away. Investigators later locate a concealed firearm, marijuana and ecstasy pills in the vehicle.

    October 19, 2018 – The Arlington Police Department releases information about a criminal investigation into the incident. According to the release, Tran declined to provide detectives with a statement and the matter is pending with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Tran is still employed by the police department but is working on restricted duty status, according to the news release.

    May 1, 2019 – A grand jury issues an indictment charging Tran with criminally negligent homicide. On May 17, 2019, the Arlington Police Department announces Tran has been fired.

    March 13, 2020 – Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shoot Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, after they forcibly enter her apartment while executing a late-night, no-knock warrant in a narcotics investigation. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker III, is also in the apartment and fires one shot at who he believes are intruders. Taylor is shot at least eight times and Walker is charged with attempted murder of a police officer and first-degree assault. The charges are later dismissed.

    April 27, 2020 – Taylor’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Taylor’s mother says the officers should have called off their search because the suspect they sought had already been arrested.

    May 21, 2020 – The FBI opens an investigation into Taylor’s death.

    June 11, 2020 – The Louisville, Kentucky, metro council unanimously votes to pass an ordinance called “Breonna’s Law,” banning no-knock search warrants.

    August 27, 2020 – Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend and the focus of the Louisville police narcotics investigation that led officers to execute the warrant on Taylor’s home, is arrested on drug charges. The day before his arrest, Glover told a local Kentucky newspaper Taylor was not involved in any alleged drug trade.

    September 1, 2020 – Walker files a $10.5 million lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. Walker claims he was maliciously prosecuted for firing a single bullet with his licensed firearm at “assailants” who “violently broke down the door.” In December 2022, Walker reaches a $2 million settlement with the city of Louisville.

    September 15, 2020 – The city of Louisville agrees to pay $12 million to Taylor’s family and institute sweeping police reforms in a settlement of the family’s wrongful death lawsuit.

    September 23, 2020 – Det. Brett Hankison is indicted by a grand jury on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. The other two officers involved in the shooting are not indicted. On March 3, 2022, Hankison is acquitted.

    April 26, 2021 – Attorney General Merrick Garland announces a Justice Department investigation into the practices of the Louisville Police Department.

    August 4, 2022 – Garland announces four current and former Louisville police officers involved in the raid on Taylor’s home were arrested and charged with civil rights violations, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction. On August 23, one of the officers, Kelly Goodlett, pleads guilty.

    May 25, 2020 – George Floyd, 46, dies after pleading for help as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneels on Floyd’s neck to pin him – unarmed and handcuffed – to the ground. Floyd had been arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill at a convenience store.

    May 26, 2020 – It is announced that four Minneapolis police officers have been fired for their involvement in the death of Floyd.

    May 27, 2020 – Gov. Tim Walz signs an executive order activating the Minnesota National Guard after protests and demonstrations erupt throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.

    May 27, 2020 – Surveillance video from outside a Minneapolis restaurant is released and appears to contradict police claims that Floyd resisted arrest before an officer knelt on his neck.

    May 28-29, 2020 – Several buildings are damaged and the Minneapolis police department’s Third Precinct is set ablaze during protests.

    May 29, 2020 – Chauvin is arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

    June 3, 2020 – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder for the three previously uncharged officers at the scene of the incident. According to court documents, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng helped restrain Floyd, while officer Tou Thao stood near the others. Chauvin’s charge is upgraded from third- to second-degree murder.

    October 21, 2020 – Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill drops the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin, but he still faces the higher charge of second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. On March 11, 2021, Judge Cahill reinstates the third-degree murder charge due to an appeals court ruling.

    March 12, 2021 – The Minneapolis city council unanimously votes to approve a $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family.

    April 20, 2021 – The jury finds Chauvin guilty on all three counts. He is sentenced to 22 and a half years.

    May 7, 2021 – A federal grand jury indicts the four former Minneapolis police officers in connection with Floyd’s death, alleging the officers violated Floyd’s constitutional rights.

    December 15, 2021 – Chauvin pleads guilty in federal court to two civil rights violations, one related to Floyd’s death, plus another case. Prosecutors request that he be sentenced to 25 years in prison to be served concurrently with his current sentence.

    February 24, 2022 – Lane, Kueng and Thao are found guilty of depriving Floyd of his civil rights by showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The jurors also find Thao and Kueng guilty of an additional charge for failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. Lane, who did not face the extra charge, had testified that he asked Chauvin twice to reposition Floyd while restraining him but was denied both times.

    May 4, 2022 – A federal judge accepts Chauvin’s plea deal and will sentence him to 20 to 25 years in prison. Based on the plea filed, the sentence will be served concurrently with the 22.5-year sentence tied to his murder conviction at the state level. On July 7, Chauvin is sentenced to 21 years in prison.

    May 18, 2022 – Thomas Lane pleads guilty to second-degree manslaughter as part of a plea deal dismissing his murder charge. State and defense attorneys jointly recommend to the court Lane be sentenced to 36 months.

    July 27, 2022 – Kueng and Thao are sentenced to three years and three and a half years in federal prison, respectively.

    September 21, 2022 – Lane is sentenced to three years in prison on a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

    October 24, 2022 – On the day his state trial is set to begin on charges of aiding and abetting in George Floyd’s killing, Kueng pleads guilty.

    December 3, 2022 – Kueng is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for his role in the killing of Floyd.

    May 1, 2023 – A Minnesota judge finds Thao guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, according to court documents. He is sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

    June 12, 2020 – Rayshard Brooks, 27, is shot and killed by Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe outside a Wendy’s restaurant after failing a sobriety test, fighting with two officers, taking a Taser from one and running away.

    June 13, 2020 – Rolfe is terminated from the Atlanta Police Department, according to an Atlanta police spokesperson. A second officer involved is placed on administrative leave.

    June 14, 2020 – According to a release from the Fulton County, Georgia, Medical Examiner’s Office, Brooks died from a gunshot wound to the back. The manner of death is listed as homicide.

    June 17, 2020 – Fulton County’s district attorney announces felony murder charges against Rolfe. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, is facing an aggravated assault charge for standing or stepping on Brooks’ shoulder while he was lying on the ground. On August 23, 2022, a Georgia special prosecutor announces the charges will be dismissed, saying the officers acted reasonably in response to a deadly threat. Both officers remain on administrative leave with the Atlanta Police Department and will undergo recertification and training, the department said in a statement.

    May 5, 2021 – The Atlanta Civil Service Board rules that Rolfe was wrongfully terminated.

    November 21, 2022 – The family of Brooks reaches a $1 million settlement with the city of Atlanta, according to Ryan Julison, a spokesperson for Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, the law firm representing Brooks’ family.

    April 11, 2021 – Daunte Wright, 20, is shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter following a routine traffic stop for an expired tag.

    April 12, 2021 – During a press conference, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon announces Potter accidentally drew a handgun instead of a Taser. According to Gannon, “this was an accidental discharge, that resulted in a tragic death of Mr. Wright.” Potter is placed on administrative leave. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, Wright’s death has been ruled a homicide.

    April 13, 2021 – Gannon submits his resignation. CNN is told Potter has also submitted a letter of resignation.

    April 14, 2021 – Potter is arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter. Washington County Attorney Pete Orput issues a news release which includes a summary of the criminal complaint filed against Potter. According to the release, Potter shot Wright with a Glock handgun holstered on her right side, after saying she would tase Wright. Later, the state amends the complaint against Potter, adding an additional charge of manslaughter in the first degree.

    December 23, 2021 – Potter is found guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter. On February 18, 2022, she is sentenced to two years in prison. In April 2023, Potter is released from prison after serving 16 months.

    June 21, 2022 – The city of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, agrees to pay $3.25 million to the family of Wright. The sum is part of a settlement deal the family struck with the city, which also agreed to make changes in its policing policies and training, the Wright family legal team said in a news release.

    2022 – Grand Rapids, Michigan – Patrick Lyoya

    April 4, 2022 – Patrick Lyoya, 26-year-old Black man, is shot and killed by a police officer following a traffic stop.

    April 13, 2022 – Grand Rapids police release video from police body camera, the police unit’s dashcam, a cell phone and a home surveillance system, which show the police officer’s encounter with Lyoya, including two clips showing the fatal shot. Lyoya was pulled over for an allegedly unregistered license plate when he got out of the car and ran. He resisted the officer’s attempt to arrest him and was shot while struggling with the officer on the ground.

    April 19, 2022 – An autopsy commissioned by Lyoya’s family shows the 26-year-old was shot in the back of the head following the April 4 encounter with a Grand Rapids police officer, attorneys representing the family announce. The officer has not been publicly identified.

    April 21, 2022 – Michigan state officials ask the US Department of Justice to launch a “pattern-or-practice” investigation into the Grand Rapids Police Department after the death of Lyoya.

    April 25, 2022 – The chief of Grand Rapids police identifies Christopher Schurr as the officer who fatally shot Lyoya.

    June 9 ,2022 – Schurr is charged with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Lyoya. Benjamin Crump. the Lyoya family attorney says in a statement, “we are encouraged by attorney Christopher Becker’s decision to charge Schurr for the brutal killing of Patrick Lyoya, which we all witnessed when the video footage was released to the public.” On June 10, 2022, Schurr pleads not guilty.

    January 7, 2023 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is hospitalized following a traffic stop that lead to a violent arrest. Nichols dies three days later from injuries sustained, according to police.

    January 15, 2023 – The Memphis Police Department announces they immediately launched an investigation into the action of officers involved in the arrest of Nichols.

    January 18, 2023 – The Department of Justice says a civil rights investigation has been opened into the death of Nichols.

    January 20, 2023 – The five officers are named and fired: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.

    January 23, 2023 – Nichols’ family and their attorneys view police video of the arrest.

    January 26, 2023 – A grand jury indicts the five police officers. They are each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, according to both Shelby County criminal court and Shelby County jail records.

    January 27, 2023 – The city of Memphis releases body camera and surveillance video of the the traffic stop and beating that led to the Nichols’ death.

    January 30, 2023 – Memphis police say two additional officers have been placed on leave. Only one officer is identified, Preston Hemphill. Additionally, the Memphis Fire Department announces three employees have been fired over their response to the incident: emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge and Lt. Michelle Whitaker.

    May 4, 2023 – The Shelby County medical examiner’s report shows that Nichols died from blunt force trauma to the head. His death has been ruled a homicide.

    September 12, 2023 – The five police officers involved are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.

    November 2, 2023 – Desmond Mills Jr., one of the five former Memphis police officers accused in the death of Nichols, pleads guilty to federal charges and agrees to plead guilty to related state charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

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  • Billionaire investor Bill Ackman urges Harvard suspensions to tackle ‘dire’ antisemitism on campus that’s ‘much worse’ than he realized

    Billionaire investor Bill Ackman urges Harvard suspensions to tackle ‘dire’ antisemitism on campus that’s ‘much worse’ than he realized

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    Harvard alumnus and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called on university president Claudine Gay to take immediate steps to reduce antisemitism on campus, a situation he called “dire” after meeting with students and faculty last week.

    “Four weeks after the barbaric terrorist acts of October 7th, I have lost confidence that you and the university will do what is required,” Ackman wrote, describing the Cambridge campus as a place where Jewish students are concerned about the threat of physical violence against them.

    A Harvard spokesperson pointed to the university’s prior comments over campus safety and community conduct but declined to directly address Ackman’s letter.

    Tensions on campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, have surged since Hamas breached Israel’s border last month, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Demonstrations have regularly been held against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has led to the deaths of almost 9,500 people, according to the Gaza health ministry run by Hamas.

    Antisemitic incidents including assaults, harassment and vandalism soared 400% across the US since Oct. 7, with 54 incidents reported on campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

    The protests have divided campuses over the limits of free speech and strained relations among students, faculty, alumni and donors. At Penn, alumnus Marc Rowan has called for its leaders to resign amid charges they’ve tolerated antisemitism on campus.

    The reputational damage to Harvard, the oldest US college, began hours after the attack by Hamas, when more than 30 Harvard student groups posted a letter placing the responsibility solely on Israel. Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.

    Former university president Larry Summers slammed the institution’s failure to condemn the groups.

    Ackman, founder of investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management and a frequent contributor to social media, suggested that there should be employment consequences for those that signed the letter.

    The threat of consequences to students for antisemitic actions became evident Thursday when a group of prominent law firms sent letters to the deans of more than 100 law schools, including Harvard, telling them to take an “unequivocal stance” against antisemitic harassment on their campuses. The firms, which include Sullivan & Cromwell and Cravath, Swain & Moore LLP, grew quickly from two dozen to more than 100.

    Gay, who began the job as Harvard’s president on July 1, has issued multiple messages condemning the attacks and last week appointed a group of advisers to work with Harvard leadership on combating antisemitism. In an Oct. 27 speech at Harvard’s Hillel, she said she acknowledged grief, fear and anger among Jewish students and faculty.

    But in his letter on X dated Nov. 4, Ackman was dismissive of her efforts and described the situation as “much worse” than he realized.

    “Jewish students are being bullied, physically intimidated, spat on, and in several widely-disseminated videos of one such incident, physically assaulted.”

    Ackman urged the immediate suspension of those involved in “harassing and allegedly physically assaulting” the student on Oct. 18, as well as disciplinary action against students who post antisemitic content on Slack message boards.

    Ackman also took issue with students chanting ““Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! From the River to the Sea, Palestine Shall Be Free!”

    The phrase has been widely interpreted as calling for the expulsion of Jews from Israel and the dismantling of the Jewish state.

    Ackman charged that inaction by Harvard in confronting the problem created by a small group of students and faculty has “emboldened this antisemitic subset of the community to escalate their antisemitic actions.”

    “As Harvard’s leader, your words and actions are followed closely,” Ackman wrote. “As a result, the steps you take to address antisemitism at Harvard will be recognized around the world, and can contribute greatly as an example to other institutions seeking to eliminate antisemitism in all of its forms.”

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  • The Gender Pay Gap Is About to Widen as Companies Adopt a ‘Men First’ Work Policy Without Realizing It | Entrepreneur

    The Gender Pay Gap Is About to Widen as Companies Adopt a ‘Men First’ Work Policy Without Realizing It | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Is your organization walking back decades of progress in gender equity with a snap of its fingers? The question may sting, but the data tells an uncomfortable truth: forced Return to Office (RTO) policies may unintentionally roll back the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplace.

    By scrapping the gains in flexible working environments made during the pandemic, firms are essentially establishing a “men first” hiring policy, whether they realize it or not. An inflexible RTO approach is pushing women out, which in turn fosters an environment that is even more exclusive. This exclusivity cycles back as a self-fulfilling prophecy, putting yet another layer of glass on that notorious ceiling.

    Gains on the gender pay gap: A precarious progress

    McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org recently published their Women in the Workplace report for 2023. The study spans an impressive 27,000 employees, 270 senior HR leaders, and 270 companies. We are inching toward equality, however reluctantly. Women make up 28% of the C-suite, a historical peak. But before we uncork the champagne, let’s not overlook the asterisks that accompany this headline. The journey to this milestone has been arduous, and the path ahead is fraught with stumbling blocks that threaten to undo this progress.

    Women reaching the C-suite represents a powerful narrative of hard-won battles in boardrooms, oftentimes against a backdrop of systemic obstacles. Yet, even as we celebrate the 28%, we must grapple with the glaring disparity that women of color comprise just 6% of this top-level leadership. It’s a somber footnote that screams: our work is far from done. And unfortunately, the barriers are not just confined to the boardroom — they infiltrate every level of the corporate hierarchy.

    Let’s talk about mid-tier promotions, a critical inflection point in anyone’s career, but especially for women. This is the stage where the corporate ladder starts to narrow significantly, and every rung upwards becomes exponentially more competitive. According to the report, for every 100 men promoted from entry-level to managerial positions, only 87 women achieve the same elevation. Break it down by race, and the numbers are even more bleak — 73 women of color get promoted for every 100 men.

    We can’t talk about progress without addressing microaggressions. They’re the tiny pebbles in the shoe, easily dismissed but impossible to ignore. Women are 1.5 times more likely than men to have a colleague take credit for their work and twice as likely to endure unsolicited commentary about their emotional state. Consequently, the majority of women — particularly women of color — adapt their appearance or behavior to circumvent these demeaning experiences. And guess what? Those who do are three times more likely to contemplate leaving their jobs.

    What these numbers don’t show are the invisible forces at play: the quiet sidelining of women during key project assignments, the unconscious biases coloring performance reviews, and the systemic hurdles in networking opportunities. Put bluntly, the system is rigged, and the odds are skewed heavily against women, even more so against women of color.

    Given the existing imbalances, the question becomes: can we afford to destabilize this precarious progress? Because what’s at stake isn’t just a few percentage points in a C-suite representation chart—it’s about shifting the entire cultural narrative around what leadership looks like. And more practically, it’s about leveraging the full extent of available talent in an increasingly competitive business landscape.

    Related: We’re Now Finding Out The Damaging Results of The Mandated Return to Office — And It’s Worse Than We Thought.

    Why a forced return to office is a gender issue

    And now for the gut punch: all this hard-won progress is on the brink of unraveling. Why? Because a mandatory return to office is hitting women harder.

    At first glance, bringing people back to the office seems like an equitable move — everyone, irrespective of gender, resumes the daily commute. Yet, it’s anything but. The consequences of this seemingly uniform policy are essentially hitting the rewind button on the modest gains we’ve made.

    To understand this, let’s take a look at a recent survey of over 1,000 UK CTOs and CIOs conducted by Nash Squared, which revealed a disturbing trend. Companies that mandated employees to be in the office at least four days a week had a conspicuously lower rate of hiring women — comprising just one in five new hires. Contrarily, firms that allowed more flexible work arrangements saw a 50% higher hiring rate for women. That’s a staggering difference, one that exposes the underlying biases and systemic issues at play.

    Other research shows similar findings. A Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence survey focusing on the financial sector illustrates that if leaders have caregiving responsibilities, they are 30% times more likely to exit if their remote work options are rescinded. And unfortunately, women still are much more likely to be caregivers.

    The blow to women from an inflexible return to office applies especially to high-paying, high-pressure jobs that demand workers be available at unusual times outside their contracted hours. The recent Nobel Award winner in economics, Claudia Golden, calls these “greedy jobs” and pointed out that flexibility during the pandemic allowed women to take more of these roles, helping narrow the gender pay gap. Reversal of RTO naturally reverses these gains.

    What explains such disparities? Forced RTO policies neglect the existing social inequalities and pressures disproportionately faced by women. Talking about childcare responsibilities, the flexibility to work from home helps mitigate these challenges, allowing women to integrate their professional and personal lives more effectively. With RTO, the juggling act becomes more precarious, leading many to opt out of full-time roles or sidestep promotional opportunities that demand more in-office presence.

    Moreover, women, especially women of color, often have to deal with microaggressions in the workplace, from being interrupted during meetings to having credit for their work usurped by male colleagues. The option to work from home doesn’t entirely eliminate these issues, but it does offer some level of insulation. Forced RTO means a return to these exhausting daily battles, which could lead to attrition among women who are already three times more likely to consider quitting when experiencing such microaggressions.

    Now, let’s bring it back to the data. If women make up only one in five new hires in an RTO-enforced environment, imagine the ripple effect this will have on the already dismal ratios of women in mid-tier and senior roles. And if they are 30% more likely to exit, they are much less likely to be retained.

    So, as we navigate the ever-shifting terrains of the post-pandemic workplace, it’s crucial to scrutinize the unintended consequences of our choices. Forced RTO isn’t just a logistics or productivity issue; it’s a dire gender issue with the potential to reverse years of slow but consistent progress. It’s a pivotal moment that calls for conscious decision-making, weighing the allure of returning to “business as usual” against the cost of squandering the inclusive workplaces we’ve started to build.

    That’s why I tell the clients I work with to determine their RTO policies to focus on the impact of RTO on all categories of employees, not only white males. Doing so helps inform more inclusive decisions considerate of the needs of all employees.

    The unintended consequences of RTO policies

    Let’s not kid ourselves. The thought behind a return-to-office policy often stems from a well-intended desire to reestablish workplace culture, foster team dynamics, and reclaim some sense of “normalcy.” But in achieving these objectives, are companies factoring in the regressions that might occur in other equally crucial areas, like gender equality? The balance of power is already skewed; the flexibility in work arrangements is one of the few equalizing factors we’ve managed to introduce. Strip that away, and you’re not just affecting logistics — you’re altering career trajectories.

    Enough with the doom and gloom. Here’s the wake-up call: this isn’t about appeasing any one group; it’s about ensuring that your talent pool is as rich, diverse and dynamic as it can possibly be. Make gender neutrality a cornerstone of your RTO policy. Use advanced analytics to monitor promotion rates across gender and racial lines. Equip your managers to recognize and counteract microaggressions.

    Is this hard work? Absolutely. But if we let forced RTO policies dismantle what progress we’ve made in gender equality, then we aren’t just failing our women; we are failing our organizations.

    So, are you in, or are you out?

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    Gleb Tsipursky

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  • Before he became a politician, House Speaker Mike Johnson partnered with an anti-gay conversion therapy group | CNN Politics

    Before he became a politician, House Speaker Mike Johnson partnered with an anti-gay conversion therapy group | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson closely collaborated with a group in the mid-to-late 2000s that promoted “conversion therapy,” a discredited practice that asserted it could change the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian individuals.

    Prior to launching his political career, Johnson, a lawyer, gave legal advice to an organization called Exodus International and partnered with the group to put on an annual anti-gay event aimed at teens, according to a CNN KFile review of more than a dozen of Johnson’s media appearances from that timespan.

    Founded in 1976, Exodus International was a leader in the so-called “ex-gay” movement, which aimed to make gay individuals straight through conversion therapy programs using religious and counseling methods. Exodus International connected ministries across the world using these controversial approaches.

    The group shut down in 2013, with its founder posting a public apology for the “pain and hurt” his organization caused. Conversion therapy has been widely condemned by most major medical institutions and has been shown to be harmful to struggling LGBTQ people.

    At the time, Johnson worked as an attorney for the socially conservative legal advocacy group, Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). He and his group collaborated with Exodus from 2006 to 2010.

    For years, Johnson and Exodus worked on an event started by ADF in 2005 known as the “Day of Truth” – a counterprotest to the “Day of Silence,” a day in schools in which students stayed silent to bring awareness to bullying faced by LGBTQ youth.

    The Day of Truth sought to counter that silence by distributing information about what Johnson described as the “dangerous” gay lifestyle.

    “I mean, our race, the size of our feet, the color of our eyes, these are things we’re born with and we cannot change,” Johnson told one radio host in 2008 promoting the event. “What these adult advocacy groups like the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network are promoting is a type of behavior. Homosexual behavior is something you do, it’s not something that you are.”

    In print, radio and on television, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, frequently disparaged homosexuality, according to KFile’s review. He advocated for the criminalization of gay sex and went so far as to partially blame it for the fall of the Roman Empire.

    “Some credit to the fall of Rome to not only the deprivation of the society and the loss of morals, but also to the rampant homosexual behavior that was condoned by the society,” Johnson told a radio host in 2008.

    Johnson’s office did not respond to a CNN request for comment asking about his work with Exodus.

    Exodus International joined ADF’s Day of Truth event in 2006 and the groups worked together on promotional material for the event, including a standalone website which pointed users to Exodus’ conversion ministries. Documents on that website cited the since-repudiated academic work in support of conversion therapy. Exodus Youth, the group’s youth wing, promoted the event within its blogs.

    Videos put out by Exodus and ADF on their standalone Day of Truth website featured two Exodus staffers speaking about how teens didn’t need to “accept” or “embrace” their homosexuality. The videos featured testimonials of a “former-homosexual” and “former lesbian.”

    Documents on the website were not archived online but were saved by anti-conversion therapy groups such as Truth Wins Out in 2007 and 2008. The website featured a FAQ on homosexuality provided by Exodus and sold t-shirts saying, “the Truth cannot be silenced.”

    One video featured Johnson, who was later quoted in a press release on Exodus International’s website ahead of the event, saying, “An open, honest discussion allows truth to rise to the surface.”

    Johnson promoted the event heavily in the media – through radio interviews, comments in newspapers, and an editorial. In interviews, he repeatedly cited the case of a teen who went to school after the Day of Silence wearing a shirt that read, “Be ashamed. Our school has embraced what God has condemned” and “Homosexuality is shameful.” The teen was suspended and ADF represented him in legal action over the incident. The case was dismissed because the teen graduated, and the court found he no longer had standing to challenge the dress code.

    “Day of Truth was really established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda in public schools,” Johnson told a radio host in 2008.

    Those who worked to counter ADF and Exodus at the time, said the event was dangerous to confused youth.

    “This directly harmed LGBTQ youth,” Wayne Besen, the executive director of Truth Wins Out and an expert on the ex-gay industry, told CNN. “This is someone whose core was promoting anti-gay and ex-gay viewpoints. He wouldn’t pander to anti-gay advocates, he was the anti-gay and ex-gay advocate.”

    Randy Scobey, a former executive vice president at Exodus, who worked on the Day of Truth in the organization’s collaboration with ADF, called the event one of his biggest regrets.

    “It was bullying those who were trying to not be bullied,” said Scobey, who now lives openly as a gay man. “That was one of the public ways that the Alliance Defense Fund worked with us.”

    Ties between Exodus and ADF extended beyond the event.

    ADF, which has since changed its name to the Alliance Defending Freedom, touted Exodus International in promotional brochures in 2004, crediting it as an organization that “played an instrumental role in helping thousands of individuals come out of homosexual behavior.”

    Scobey recalled Johnson as quiet, but firm in his beliefs that homosexuality was wrong. He said Johnson and ADF provided crucial legal advice to Exodus and its “member ministries.”

    “We worked with them behind the scenes a lot,” Scobey told CNN, saying the group offered them legal guidance over their ex-gay counseling. “They were very important to us as far as helping us to feel more secure legally and politically.”

    Exodus International stopped sponsoring the Day of Truth event in 2010, saying it became adversarial and counterproductive.

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  • UN forum says people of African descent still face discrimination and attacks, urges reparations

    UN forum says people of African descent still face discrimination and attacks, urges reparations

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    UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. body formed to promote respect for and protect people of African descent around the world says in its first report that they continue “to be victims of systemic racial discrimination and racialized attacks” and calls for reparations.

    The report, which was delivered to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, says reparations are essential to rectify past injustices against people of African descent and are “a cornerstone of justice in the 21st century.”

    Epsy Campbell Barr, chair of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, said at a news conference Tuesday the report underlines that “the legacies of colonialism, enslavement and apartheid are still alive today.”

    These legacies still have a real impact on the lives of millions of people of African descent who “are more exposed to violence and death as a result of encounters with law enforcement officials,” she said. “It also makes them more exposed to health disparities” from “the profound impact that racism and racial discrimination have on both physical and mental health.”

    Campbell Barr said the report highlights that “there is an invisibility of people of African descent,” especially for vulnerable groups.

    The forum was established by a General Assembly resolution in August 2021 as a U.N. consultative body for improving the safety, quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent. It also serves as an advisory body to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

    The forum’s report and recommendations are based on its two initial sessions, one last December in Geneva and one May 30-June 2 in New York.

    “During the sessions of the Permanent Forum, halting and reversing the lasting consequences of enslavement, colonialism, genocide and apartheid were seen as key to addressing systemic and structural racism against people of African descent, both internationally and domestically,” the report says.

    On the issue of reparations, it recommends that all 193 U.N. member nations “educate themselves and the public on the histories and legacies of colonialism and enslavement.” It says they should recognize how they contributed to or suffered from these legacies, and eliminate all forms of racial discrimination at the local, national, regional and global levels.

    Campbell Barr, who was Costa Rica’s first vice president in 2018-2022, said the report also recommends fostering panel discussions, holding a global summit and seeking legal opinions and studies on the reparations issue.

    The forum has been invited to participate in a global conference on reparations hosted by Ghana in November, and next year it is planning to have consultations with representatives from civil society, she said.

    The idea for the forum was conceived at the start of the International Decade of People of African Descent, which began in 2014 and ends in 2024. The forum calls in the report for an extension to a second decade, through 2034.

    The 2021 assembly resolution called for the forum to consider drafting a U.N. declaration on the promotion, protection and respect for the human rights of people of African descent.

    In the report, the forum strongly supports such a declaration, saying it would fill gaps in existing human rights instruments and “be a vital tool to guarantee dignity, inclusion, equity and reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent.”

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  • As antisemitism grows, so does its dangers to everyone. Here’s how you can fight against it | CNN

    As antisemitism grows, so does its dangers to everyone. Here’s how you can fight against it | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    In the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas, antisemitic incidents in the US are on the rise.

    The Anti-Defamation League reported over 300 antisemitic incidents in US since the Hamas attack on October 7. That’s an increase of almost 400% when compared with October 2022.

    College campuses are seeing an increase of antisemitic activities as well, like the threats against Cornell University’s Jewish community. The growing number of incidents on campuses compelled the Biden administration to take action.

    The White House outlined measures the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education plan to take with campus and local law enforcement to provide support and resources.

    It’s not just the US, however, that is dealing with this problem. The ADL is tracking a rise in antisemitic incidents across the world.

    Vlad Khaykin, National Director of Programs on Antisemitism for the Anti-Defamation League, says hostility against Jews tends to gain ground during times of uncertainty: be that economic depression, war or pandemic. If there is anxiety, some people will turn to antisemitism as “an answer for why things are going wrong in the world.”

    In the United States, Jews make up just over 2 percent of the population. But antisemitism affects everyone, and everyone should be concerned.

    Khaykin points out that historically, persistent and patently untrue canards against the Jewish people reflect and amplify fundamental flaws in a society.

    “It breeds conspiracy theories that distort our ability to make informed decisions, which are central to any democracy,” he says. “It is anti-democratic. It is anti-intellectual. It leads to contempt for knowledge, learning, expertise.”

    Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power described it as the “canary in the coal mine.”

    Here are a few things that everyone can do to help fight antisemitism.

    Educate yourself and be an advocate

    No matter where you live, you can help. As Khaykin points out, “you don’t need to know any Jews” to want to make the world a better place for everyone.

    The ADL has many educational online programs and resources available. They range from anti-bias training to anti-Semitism education.

    Advocate for others’ education and protection. Approach schools and centers of learning about adding programs and curriculums on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. Echoes & Reflections is an online program that focuses on Holocaust education in the classroom. Tennessee school officials said their vote to ban Holocaust graphic novel “Maus” was meant to shelter students from foul language and nudity. But advocates say books like these are important tools in teaching younger generations.

    The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is another resource where one can learn not only about the Holocaust but find educational information on anti-Semitism and its impact today.

    This means not just speaking out against hate speech you hear, but reporting what you see on social media. The pandemic has fueled a lot of conspiracy theories, and several prominent people have compared vaccine requirements or mask mandates to the Holocaust. This type of rhetoric demeans the actual atrocities of the Holocaust.

    “Attempts to minimize through absurd comparisons, to minimize the horror and enormity of the Holocaust, are really pernicious,” Khaykin said. “Scholars of genocide have said that the final act of genocide is the denial of the genocide.”

    Germany has strict laws against hate speech and Holocaust denials, but in the US such speech is harder to regulate. Private companies like Facebook, however, have rules against it. You just need to report it when you see it – every time you see it.

    Be involved and aware of what is happening in your community. In August of 2021, the ADL, the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI held a community outreach event raising awareness about how they work together to combat anti-Semitism. The ADL has 25 regional offices around the country and work closely with law enforcement agencies. As interest in communities grows about what is being done to combat hate, these type events are more likely to happen in the future.

    Members and supporters of the Jewish community come together for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of those who died during a shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

    Report it immediately. The ADL has an online form where you can report any incidents of “anti-Semitism, extremism, bias, bigotry or hate.” Note, this is not just for people who experienced anti-Jewish hostility. This is for anyone targeted for their “religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or level of ability.” Reportable activity could be anything from seeing a hate symbol on the street to kids getting bullied at school or online.

    Here you can upload video and photos of the incident and someone will contact you. The ADL keeps track of all reported anti-Semitic and hate crime incidents.

    Khaykin said, “Anti-Semitism doesn’t just show up in our schools, in our workplaces. It’s everywhere. It pervades every aspect of our civilization.”

    The only way to stop the cycle of ignorance and hate is through knowledge and love.

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  • United Flight Attendants File Lawsuit Over Dodgers Charters | Entrepreneur

    United Flight Attendants File Lawsuit Over Dodgers Charters | Entrepreneur

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    Two United Airlines flight attendants brought a lawsuit against the company last week, claiming they were denied positions on a charter flight for the Los Angeles Dodgers because the MLB players preferred “white, young, thin women who are predominately blond and blue-eyed.” The Dodgers are not named as defendants in the suit.

    The flight attendants, Dawn Todd, 50, who is Black, and Darby Quezada, 44, of mixed Mexican, Black, and Jewish descent, alleged that they didn’t have a “certain look,” and claimed the airline denied them roles based on racial and physical biases.

    “United fosters an environment of inclusion and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” United Airlines said in a statement to Entrepreneur. “We believe this lawsuit is without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.”

    In the lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the flight attendants claim they were discriminated against after originally being chosen for the Dodgers charter flight program — but then taken off the schedule. Todd and Quezada emphasized their 15 years of combined experience with United and are seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial. The lawsuit claims the treatment they received has resulted in lost income and has negatively impacted their health, causing panic attacks, anxiety, sleep conditions, and a decline in self-esteem.

    Related: United Airlines to Pay $30 Million Settlement to Quadriplegic Man Left in Vegetative State After Flight

    The lawsuit references a prior case; United Airlines settled an allegation in 2020 regarding the staffing of flights with attendants who were “young, white, female, and predominantly blonde and blue-eyed.” The current lawsuit draws from this settlement, noting a change in 2022 when several white flight attendants were “blatantly selected by United’s management…because of how they looked.”

    The lawsuit claims that, unlike Todd and Quezada, these newly added attendants did not have to interview for their positions, whereas the plaintiffs had to undergo “extensive” interviews to secure a position.

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    Madeline Garfinkle

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  • Flight attendants claim United took them off Dodgers’ charter flights for not being ‘white, young, thin’

    Flight attendants claim United took them off Dodgers’ charter flights for not being ‘white, young, thin’

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    Two United Airlines flight attendants claim in a lawsuit that they were passed over for the plum assignment of working on charter flights for the Dodgers because the players prefer a “certain look” of “white, young, thin women who are predominately blond and blue-eyed.”

    In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Dawn Todd and Darby Quezada alleged harassment and/or discrimination based on race, national origin, religion and age in regard to the staffing of United’s charter flights for the Dodgers and their treatment by coworkers on those flights. Todd, 50, is Black, and Quezada, 44, is of Mexican, Black and Jewish descent.

    The Dodgers are not named as defendants in the lawsuit. A team spokesperson told The Times that the Dodgers do not comment on any pending litigation.

    United responded to questions from The Times with a statement.

    “United fosters an environment of inclusion and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” the company wrote in an email. “We believe this lawsuit is without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.”

    According to the lawsuit, Todd and Quezada both have worked for United for more than 15 years and had spent more than a decade trying to join the airline’s program that staffs the Dodgers’ flights. Such assignments can bring attendants up to three times the compensation of typical assignments because of longer flight times and other perks.

    “Plaintiffs had the necessary experience and qualifications,” the lawsuit states, “but their requests were dismissed and rejected because Plaintiffs were not white.”

    Two other United flight attendants sued the airline in 2020 for allegedly staffing teams’ flights with “young, white, female, and predominately blond/blue-eyed” flight attendants. The case was settled out of court in March 2021.

    That led the way for Todd and Quesada to become members of the Dodgers charter flight program, according to the current lawsuit, but only “after extensive interviews.”

    According to the lawsuit, “things changed again in 2022 when several white United flight attendants were added to the ‘dedicated crew.’ But, unlike Todd and Quezada, these white United flight attendants did not have to interview for these coveted positions. …

    “Instead, these white flight attendants were blatantly selected by United’s management … because of how they looked: they are white, young, thin women who are predominately blond and blue-eyed. When Todd and Quezada asked United why certain flight attendants were added … without having to interview like they did, Todd and Quezada were told that these white flight attendants fit a ‘certain look’ that the Dodgers players liked.”

    The lawsuit states that Todd and Quezada started receiving fewer assignments to Dodgers flights ended up being demoted within the program, and Quezada eventually was removed “without any justification.”

    Todd and Quezada are seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount in damages.

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    Chuck Schilken

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  • IOC hits back at Putin claim of ‘ethnic discrimination’ against Russia’s athletes

    IOC hits back at Putin claim of ‘ethnic discrimination’ against Russia’s athletes

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    The International Olympic Committee has dismissed claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin of “ethnic discrimination” against athletes who are excluded from international sport

    ByThe Associated Press

    October 20, 2023, 6:17 AM

    Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech during a plenary session of the Russia – Country of Sports International Sports Forum in Perm, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (Evgeny Biyatov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

    The Associated Press

    LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee dismissed on Friday claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin of “ethnic discrimination” against athletes who are excluded from international sport.

    The IOC has advised sports bodies this year to vet Russian athletes for returning to compete as neutral individuals without a national identity ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics while continuing to exclude teams.

    Neutral status can be approved for athletes who have not actively supported the war and are not contracted to military or state security agencies, though there have been inconsistencies in how dozens of different sports have applied rules.

    “We firmly reject the accusations being made that these measures are an ‘ethnic discrimination,’” the IOC said in a statement one day after Putin’s speech.

    “They are a reaction to the breach of the Olympic Charter by the Russian and Belarusian governments,” the Olympic body said, referring to the military invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022 four days after the Beijing Winter Games closed. The United Nations-backed Olympic Truce was still in force.

    Putin also reportedly complained Thursday that invitations to the Olympics were not being given as a right for the best athletes.

    However, the Olympic Charter details: “Nobody is entitled as of right to participate in the Olympic Games.”

    “Any entry is subject to acceptance by the IOC, which may at its discretion, at any time, refuse any entry, without indication of grounds” is stated in article 44 of the book of rules and principles guiding Olympic sports.

    Though the IOC last year urged a blanket isolation of Russia and Belarus from international sport, that position eased to become an aim to avoid discrimination based on an individual’s passport once qualifying events for Paris approached.

    The IOC said Friday the “strict conditions” it has defined for evaluating “individual neutral athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport” comply with the charter.

    The charter also states each national Olympic committee (NOC) “is obliged to participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes.”

    Though the IOC suspended the Russian NOC last week — for incorporating as members sports councils from occupied regions of eastern Ukraine — it can still directly invite athletes through the governing body of their sport.

    IOC president Thomas Bach also has consistently said it is empowered to take a decision that could exclude all Russians from Paris ahead of the July 26 opening ceremony.

    ___

    AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • 7 Strategies for Dealing with Gender Bias in Family Businesses | Entrepreneur

    7 Strategies for Dealing with Gender Bias in Family Businesses | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    For Janette Silva, having a family business has been both a blessing and a curse. As the sole daughter, her involvement with the family business was never predetermined, in contrast to her brothers, who have enjoyed the security of stable salaries and lifelong perks a family business brings.

    Gradually, Silva took on the mantle of running the company, yet the official CEO title remained out of her grasp. In addition to her professional duties, she shouldered the care of her aging parents and managed her household responsibilities. This burden wasn’t the subject of discussion but rather her family’s unspoken expectation. At her workplace, she often cringed when she heard phrases like, “You don’t know what you’re talking about; let me talk to your dad” or “Ah, I see, you got this job because you’re his daughter.”

    Although women in the broader business landscape contend with various gender biases, those in family businesses grapple with an added layer of complexity and severity that further complicates the picture — and the situation is worse than it might appear.

    Related: Running a Family Business Means You Need to Prepare Your Kids to Take Over — Here’s How to Do It Right.

    Revealing gender discrimination in family businesses

    Regrettably, stories like Silva’s are all too familiar. That should be no surprise, as gender-based expectations persistently permeate family dynamics. Nevertheless, in today’s world, it’s both unjust and unwise to limit the prospects of a capable family member on the basis of their gender.

    A research team composed of experts from my team at Loyola Marymount University’s Family Business Entrepreneurship Program, Business Consulting Resources, the University of San Francisco’s Gellert Family Business Center and Women Leaders in Family Enterprises decided to examine this issue more closely.

    We were curious about the extent to which women face uphill battles and how the experience of bias and discrimination in the family business impacts how they perceive their own sense of work performance and career progressions. We embarked on an extensive three-year study, which entailed conducting qualitative interviews and organizing focus groups in 2019 and 2020. This was followed in 2023 by an extensive survey involving more than 100 women leaders. Our respondents primarily represented multi-generational businesses (77%) consisting predominantly of CEOs or senior managers (74%) who boasted an average tenure of 16 years.

    Remarkable revelations

    Our study revealed that gender discrimination still casts a shadow, manifesting as the infamous “glass ceiling effect,” the persistent “sticky floor impact” and a lack of opportunities in leadership roles. Around 49% of our respondents reported experiencing gender bias (compared to 42% for all businesses in the U.S., according to Pew Research from 2017). Forty percent of the respondents who acknowledged bias also expressed a belief that their gender had hindered their progress within the family business.

    Given that our survey respondents were mostly top managers, it is not surprising that much of the biases came from the external business environment. They emanated from customers (51%), vendors (37%) and the broader business community (45%), highlighting the pervasiveness of the issue in our society. Astonishingly, family members themselves served as the source of discrimination in over a third of cases.

    One respondent candidly shared, “My father openly says women are no good in business,” while another recounted, “The men in the family are automatically granted the most senior positions, leaving me with limited options.” Additional comments painted a similar picture: “Had I been a boy, I would have been a managing director, but as a girl I wasn’t considered,” and “I was told that the CEO position would always be held by a male.” One woman leader poignantly reflected, “In my family business, I had to work tirelessly compared to my brothers to achieve the same recognition.”

    The consequences of gender biases proved enduring, leaving a lasting impact on those affected. Individuals who experienced bias reported that it had a detrimental effect on their work performance. They were more prone to suffering from imposter syndrome — an affliction characterized by feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and a haunting fear of being exposed as a fraud. This syndrome had the potential to further erode their performance, making these findings both eye-opening and concerning.

    Related: The Pros and Cons of Hiring Family Members in a Small Business

    Navigating unique challenges in family businesses

    Women in family-owned businesses have traditionally fared better than those in large publicly owned companies. For instance, it was widely celebrated that, as of January 2023, women had exceeded the 10% threshold for Fortune 500 CEOs. On the other hand, it is generally accepted that at least 24% of family businesses are led by a woman CEO or president. This progress is commendable, especially when considering that family businesses often impose distinctive challenges to their female members.

    One key challenge arises from entrenched family traditions rooted in the culture and history of these businesses, which can overshadow an objective assessment of qualifications. Typically, sons ascend to leadership roles, relegating daughters to supportive positions, regardless of their abilities. Furthermore, the familial dynamics and the informal nature of decision-making within these family units — relying more on personal biases and stereotypes than formal policies and procedures — can further perpetuate gender disparities. Compounding the problem is the usual absence of external oversight (e.g., external board members) in family-owned enterprises.

    Adding to the complexity of gender discrimination in family businesses is its deeply impactful nature. Women who experience gender bias often encounter it from their own kin, including parents, siblings and close family associates. This personal dimension can heighten the emotional toll, and confronting family members risks straining vital relationships further.

    Due to their emotional commitment in the legacy of the business, many women find it exceedingly difficult to pursue other opportunities, even when discrimination persists. This predicament is exacerbated by the fact that women in family businesses often have limited external support systems to turn to, as seeking help from external sources can amplify familial conflicts. As a result, women who grapple with gender discrimination in family businesses often find themselves extremely isolated, making the experience all the more formidable.

    This type of situation could sound familiar to you — perhaps you’re the leader of a family business or have experienced it firsthand. But it is possible to break the chains of gender bias and impostor syndrome in family business.

    The following are the strategic steps you can take to not only dispel gender bias but also fortify family dynamics and improve business performance.

    Acknowledge the problem: Collectively agree on the presence of gender bias within the family business and the need for change. Ensure buy-in and commitment from top leadership.

    Revamp the family charter: Revise the family charter or institute a code of conduct that explicitly champions gender equality and nondiscrimination within the family and the business.

    Educate and raise awareness: Educate all family members and employees about the prevalence and significance of gender equality using workshops and other training programs.

    Implement a gender-equal HR policy: Rework the HR policies to ensure fairness, objectivity and transparency across all facets — hiring, evaluation, promotion and compensation.

    Forge an equal opportunity succession plan: Redefine succession planning through an egalitarian lens, focusing on capabilities rather than gender.

    Foster a supportive culture: Establish an inclusive and supportive work culture where every individual can freely voice concerns without reprisal. This culture also acts as a potent antidote to imposter syndrome.

    Tap into external expertise: Consider enlisting the aid of external consultants or experts in diversity and inclusion to provide guidance and offer an objective perspective.

    Related: How to Sustain a Family Business Across Generations

    Transforming family businesses

    Gender bias in family businesses can have a detrimental effect on both the business and the family. On the other hand, breaking free from bias and discrimination and rewriting the rules can have a positive impact on the business, leading to improved morale and a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It also fosters more harmonious family relationships, allowing both the family and the business to truly flourish.

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    David Y. Choi

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  • Activists turn backs on US officials as UN-backed human rights review of United States wraps up

    Activists turn backs on US officials as UN-backed human rights review of United States wraps up

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    GENEVA — Dozens of U.S. activists who champion LGBTQ, indigenous and reproductive rights and who campaign against discrimination turned their backs Wednesday in a silent protest against what they called insufficient U.S. government responses to their human rights concerns.

    The protesters, who came from places as diverse as Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and beyond, led the demonstration before the independent Human Rights Committee as U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor wrapped up a two-day hearing on the United States. It was part of a regular human rights review for all U.N. member countries by the committee.

    Six other countries including Haiti, Iran and Venezuela also were undergoing public sessions this autumn in Geneva to see how well countries are adhering to their commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — one of only a handful of international human rights treaties that the United States has ratified.

    The protest came as Taylor said the U.S. commitment to the treaty was “a moral imperative at the very heart of our democracy” and her country “leads by example through our transparency, our openness and our humble approach to our own human rights challenges.”

    “You have heard over the past two days about many of the concrete ways we are meeting our obligations under the convention, and you have also heard our pledge to do more,” said Taylor, who is U.S. ambassador to the Human Rights Council. “I recognize that the topics raised are often painful for all of us to discuss.”

    Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights program at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the U.S. delegation “decided to stick to scripted, general, and often meaningless responses” to questions from the committee.

    “At times it seemed that AI generated responses would have been more qualitative,” he said.

    Andrea Guerrero, executive director of community group Alliance San Diego, said the U.S. responses were “deeply disappointing” and consisted of a simple reiteration, defense and justification of use-of-force standards by U.S. police.

    “For that reason, we walked out of the U.S. consultations (with civil society) two days ago, and we protested today,” said Guerrero, whose group began a “Start With Dignity” campaign in southwestern states to decry law enforcement abuse, discrimination and impunity.

    Some 140 activists from an array of groups traveled to Geneva for the first such review of U.S. compliance to the covenant in nine years.

    Ki’I Kaho’ohanohano, a traditional midwife from Hawaii, said she came to speak to the maternal health care crisis in Hawaii and beyond, and faulted U.S. officials for having “deflected” the committee’s repeat questions.

    “Stonewall — as usual,” she said, “Again we don’t have any responses, and it’s very infuriating.”

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  • Landlord charged with hate crime, accused of stabbing 6-year-old tenant to death allegedly because family is Muslim | CNN

    Landlord charged with hate crime, accused of stabbing 6-year-old tenant to death allegedly because family is Muslim | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Chicago-area landlord has been arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after authorities said he stabbed and killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because the tenants are Muslim.

    According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

    Authorities say they were called to the residence in unincorporated Plainfield Township, Illinois, approximately 40 miles outside Chicago, just before noon on Saturday after a woman called 911 saying her landlord had attacked her.

    When deputies arrived, they found Czuba sitting outside and the victims in a bedroom. The boy had been stabbed 26 times, and his mother had been stabbed over a dozen times, the sheriff’s office said.

    The victims were taken to the hospital, but the boy later died from his injuries, authorities said. His mother is recovering in a local hospital and expected to survive.

    The sheriff’s office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives after being brought to the Will County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Complex, but investigators were able to determine the victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”

    The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a news release identifying the victims as Hanaan Shahin, 32, and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume.

    CAIR said they had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years without trouble with Czuba, but in texts to the boy’s father from the hospital after the attack, Shahin said he “knocked on their door, and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling, ‘You Muslims must die!’” according to the CAIR statement.

    On Saturday, Israel’s military said its forces are readying for the next stages of the war in response to the unprecedented October 7 attacks by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. At least 1,400 people were killed during Hamas’ rampage, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Sunday.

    Nearly 1 million Gazans have been forced from their homes in the week since the Hamas attack and the ensuing Israeli retaliation, UNRWA, the UN agency that assists Palestinians, said Saturday.

    Czuba was transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility and is awaiting his initial court appearance, according to the sheriff’s office. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

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  • Selma Blair helps White House salute landmark disability legislation

    Selma Blair helps White House salute landmark disability legislation

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    WASHINGTON — Actor and disability rights advocate Selma Blair on Monday helped President Joe Biden mark the legacy of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, displaying a touch of the comedic timing that made her a star in Hollywood hits like “Legally Blonde” and “Cruel Intentions.”

    Blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, walked together with Biden to a ceremony on the White House’s south lawn with her cane and her service dog, an English Labrador named Scout.

    When she reached the stage, she told Scout, “down” and “good boy.” As he lay near Biden’s feet, the president started to bend down to pet Scout, but Blair looked over and said, “yeah, stay.” That caused Biden to straighten up to full attention.

    “I feel so powerful all of a sudden,” laughed Blair. Then, indicating a handheld microphone in addition to the one she was using affixed to the podium, she said, “I don’t need this. This is for someone else, correct?”

    “It’s for me,” Biden said, prompting Blair to respond, “OK, the real guy.”

    Blair, 51, is known for a number of memorable late ’90s/early ’00’s movie roles and her modeling career. In recent years she’s become a leading face of disability rights, calling herself Monday “a proud disabled woman.”

    Blair told a crowd of advocates attending the ceremony, “Although I’d had symptoms since the age of 7, it took a lifetime of self-advocacy to finally lead me to a diagnosis at age 46, after living most of my life in pain and self-doubt.”

    She said Judy Heumann, a renowned activist who helped secure passage of the legislation protecting the rights of disabled people being celebrated Monday and who died in March at age 75, “Taught me my worth.”

    “The push towards equity continues,” Blair said. “Our laws and policies must reflect that our disabled lives are not of lesser value.”

    Biden also hailed Huemann, noting that, “History shows it’s often not the people in power, but the power of the people that move the country forward.”

    The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prevents discrimination against disabled people on everything from employment to parking to voting.

    October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Biden noted both bills received bipartisan support when clearing Congress.

    “These laws are a source of opportunity, meaningful inclusion, participation, respect, and, as my dad would say, the most important of all, dignity,” Biden said. “Be treated with dignity. Ensuring that the American dream is for all of us, not just for some of us.”

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