Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Wants Probation for Killing George Floyd, Prosecutors Wants 30 Years in Prison
Since ex-police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering an unarmed George Floyd,while in police custody, his team has tried to deflect responsibility and accountability for his actions. Now, as Chauvin’s sentencing date draws near, his attorney and the prosecution are asking for two very different forms of punishment.
According to CBS News, Chauvin, who was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Floyd, has asked a judge to give him a sentence of a term of probation or a shorter prison term than recommended by Minnesota guidelines. A memo filed on Wednesday says the former police officer’s lack of previous criminal history, his previous work as a police officer, and the risk of being victimized in prison as factors the judge should consider in his sentencing.
CNN reported that Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, wrote in the filing that his client was “a product of a ‘broken’ system. Mr. Chauvin’s offense is best described as an error made in good faith reliance his own experience as a police officer and the training he had received–not intentional commission of an illegal act.”
But on the same day of the defense’s filing, prosecutors asked for a sentence of 30 years, a length that would “properly account for the profound impact of [Chauvin’s] conduct on the victim, the victim’s family, and the community.”
“This Court has already concluded that the facts proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial support the existence of four separate aggravated sentencing factors,” and specifically that Chauvin, “(i) abused a position of trust and authority; (ii) acted with particular cruelty; (iii) acted in concert with three other individuals who all actively participated in the crime; and (iv) committed the offenses in the presence of children. The number and severity of the aggravating factors applicable to Defendant’s conduct reflect both Defendant’s culpability and the extraordinary nature of this case,” prosecutors wrote.
President Joe Biden Lays Out Plan To Share COVID-19 Vaccinations With The World
Reuters -The White House on Thursday laid out a plan for the United States to share 25 million surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses with the world and said it would lift some restrictions to allow other countries to buy U.S.-made supplies for vaccine production more easily.
President Joe Biden said the United States would share the vaccines without expectation of political favors in return. Biden has pledged to share some 80 million COVID-19 vaccines internationally this month.
The United States will donate nearly 19 million doses through the COVAX international vaccine sharing program, he said in a statement. Through COVAX, some 6 million doses would go to Latin America and the Caribbean, about 7 million doses to South and Southeast Asia and roughly 5 million to Africa.
The remaining doses, amounting to just over 6 million, would go directly from the United States to countries including Canada, Mexico, India and South Korea, he said.
“We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions,” Biden said in a statement. “We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values.”
Although the United States is working through the COVAX facility co-run by the World Health Organization, the White House retains final say in which countries receive U.S. doses and how many, said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The White House will base donation decisions on “factors included achieving global coverage, responding to crises… and helping as many countries as possible,” Sullivan said, adding that the United States intends to prioritize its neighbors, including Canada, Mexico and countries in Central and South America.
Biden has come under pressure from the world community to share the U.S. surplus of COVID-19 vaccines.
For months, the White House has remained focused on getting Americans vaccinated after the coronavirus killed more than half a million people in the United States within the last year.
But the president has promised that the United States would become a supplier to other countries and pledged to send abroad at least 20 million doses of the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca Plc doses he had already planned to give to other countries.
The 25 million doses Biden announced on Thursday will not include supply from AstraZeneca, the White House said.
LIFTING SOME RESTRICTIONS
The White House is also removing special powers it granted through the Defense Production Act (DPA) to certain vaccine makers that received U.S. funding but do not yet have U.S. approvals, including AstraZeneca, Sanofi SA/GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Novavax Inc.
The DPA ratings give U.S. producers priority access to supplies and equipment needed to manufacture the vaccines that are in short supply around the world. Lifting them could free up raw materials for major vaccine makers elsewhere, especially the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Invoking the DPA helped build a huge local vaccine production system, while some companies overseas have struggled to get needed supplies to ramp up vaccine production.
SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker and a top supplier of COVID-19 shots to low- and middle-income countries, had criticized the use of the DPA, and Reuters reported in May that a shortage of U.S.-made raw materials would hit production of Novavax’s vaccine.
“That is a start, at least – the Biden administration acting to stop harming the global response. Now, we need a DPA for the world,” said Peter Maybarduk, access to medicines director at consumer watchdog Public Citizen, which has argued the United States should use the DPA to scale up global vaccine production.
White House COVID adviser Jeff Zients said the United States will continue to donate additional doses throughout the summer as more supply becomes available.
The U.S. announcement came amid growing concern about the huge disparity in vaccination rates in developing countries versus advanced economies.
The heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Thursday urged the Group of Seven advanced economies to release any excess COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries as soon as possible, and called on manufacturers to ramp up production to benefit poor countries.
Pfizer has begun independently exporting millions of its U.S.-made shots largely to countries in Central and South America, Reuters reported last month.
Many Latin American countries have a dire need for COVID-19 vaccines as they combat outbreaks. Brazil has been one of the world’s hardest hit countries by the pandemic, reporting a total of more than 15 million cases and 400,000 deaths, while Peru this week revised its COVID-19 death toll, making it the country with the worst per capita fatality rate.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Carl O’Donnell; additional reporting by Allison Martell and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
White House Tells Companies To Step Up Cybersecurity, Ransomware Efforts
Reuters – The White House warned corporate executives and business leaders on Thursday to step up cybersecurity measures to protect against ransomware attacks after intrusions disrupted operations at a meatpacking company and a southeastern oil pipeline.
There has been a significant hike in the frequency and size of ransomware attacks, Anne Neuberger, cybersecurity adviser at the National Security Council, said in a letter.
“The threats are serious and they are increasing. We urge you to take these critical steps to protect your organizations and the American public,” she added.
The recent cyberattacks have forced companies to see ransomware as a threat to core business operations and not just data theft, as ransomware attacks have shifted from stealing to disrupting operations, she said.
Strengthening the country’s resilience to cyberattacks was one of President Joe Biden‘s top priorities, she added.
“The private sector also has a critical responsibility to protect against these threats. All organizations must recognize that no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware, regardless of size or location,” Neuberger wrote.
The letter came after a major meatpacker resumed U.S. operations on Wednesday following a ransomware attack that disrupted meat production in North America and Australia.
A Russia-linked hacking group that goes by the name of REvil and Sodinokibi was behind the cyberattack against JBS SA, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The cyberattack followed one last month by a group with ties to Russia on Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, which crippled fuel delivery for several days in the U.S. Southeast.
Biden believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has a role to play in preventing these attacks and planned to bring up the issue during their summit this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.
Neuberger’s letter outlined immediate steps companies can take to boost their cybersecurity and protect themselves from ransomware attacks, which can have ripple effects far beyond the company and its customers.
Those include best practices such as multifactor authentication, endpoint detection and response, encryption and a skilled cybersecurity team. Companies should back up data and regularly test systems, as well as update and patch systems promptly.
Neuberger advised that companies test incident response plans and use a third party to test the cybersecurity team’s work.
She said it was critical that corporate business functions and production operations be run on separate networks.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Holmes and Steve Orlofsky)
Brazilian Police Knocked Out Black Man, Called Him The N-Word
Two white Brazilian police officers are being investigated for knocking out a Black man, calling him the “[N-word] and garbage.”
During a traffic stop on Saturday in the São Paulo city of Caieiras, authorities pulled over three motorcyclists who were allegedly drunk driving, the Daily Mail reported.
The two officers, only identified by their last names, Corporals Oliveira and Dietrich, gave one of the bikers, Kaio Souza, a hard time.
After an exchange of words, Souza walked toward Oliveira, and the officer pushed him.
Cell phone video footage shows that Oliveira decided to punch Souza. He was hit with one punch to the face, causing Souza to hit the ground. It was around this moment Oliveira called Souza a “[n—-r] and garbage.”
Oliveira then approached one of the other bikers who was being questioned and ordered him against a wall.
Souza was taken to a nearby hospital, according to the Brazilian newspaper, UOL Band.
All three men were charged with public intoxication, resistance, and disobedience, and they were fined an undisclosed amount and later released. However, it is not clear if Souza had been operating a bike.
Oliveira is being investigated for bodily injury and was placed on desk duty. His partner is also being investigated.
Oliveira and Dietrich allegedly tried to bury the evidence by taking the phone that recorded the knockout punch and discarding it in the trash.
The phone was later recovered and submitted to the police station, where investigators are reviewing it, according to news outlet G1.
Military police ombudsman Elizeu Soares told G1 that Souza was a victim of racism, saying “everything indicates that the policemen committed the crime of abuse of authority and bodily injury, with the unnecessary aggression perpetrated by one of the policemen.”
“There are (details) indicative of the crime of racism by the policemen,” said Soares. “In my opinion, the way the police approached those being (questioned) is because they are Black, they have no motivation for approaching (them).”
Eric Adams Believes BIPOC And Immigrants Have Been Betrayed and Wants to Change That
*This is part of a series on the New York City Mayoral Race. Black Enterprise will talk to the top Democratic candidates and give our readers a chance to get to know them and their agenda. In this series BLACK ENTERPRISE has Interviewed Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Shaun Donovan, and Kathryn Garcia.
Eric Adams was a typical kid living in Brooklyn and Queens. He played sports with his brother, took public transportation and went to public school. However, when Eric and his brother were arrested as teenagers, the moment changed his life.
“My brother and I were arrested and assaulted, badly, by the two arresting officers.”
Rather than let the beating he took turn him to a life of hating the police, Adams became one, serving 22 years on the force and working his way up to captain. During his time on the force, Adams saw and noted widespread inequities.
Now Adams wants to change the city and make it fair for everyone.
“The goal is really to end the inequalities and injustices that we create in our city,” Adams told BLACK ENTEPRISE. “The city has betrayed Black, brown and immigrant people for far too long.”
Being a former NYPD officer, Adams had a unique perspective on the city last summer when millions marched for Black lives at the same time police were condemned for being brutal, unforgiving and unnecessary agitators. Adams wants to change public safety and policing, but for him defunding the police has nothing to do with it. The larger issues are the city’s long-term inequities that lead to violence.
“Defund the police is a slogan and slogans can’t be public safety,” Adams said. “The prerequisite for prosperity is public safety. We just had a shooting where a mother was shot point-blank by her ex-lover and murdered. She wasn’t shot by a cop, she was shot because someone had easy access to a gun.”
That doesn’t mean Adams wants to keep the NYPD the same. Adams says he wants to make changes within the department such as stripping police from certain responsibilities like mental health checks; appointing the first female police commissioner, and publicizing the NYPD list of officers with records of complaints and bad behavior.
The coronavirus pandemic was devastating to the city, as stores were closed, people lost jobs and entertainers and artists lost their dreams and the city went to sleep. Now that the city is reopening, it’s time for the recovery.
However, Adams knows the inequalities in education, housing, and the city’s economy were problems before the pandemic and he wants to make sure they’re never problems again.
“I heard one candidate say they want to bring the happiness back to New York City and that is a clear example of them not knowing the city because there is a substantial number of New Yorkers who were never happy,” Adams said. “COVID may have amplified what they were going through but pre-COVID 65 percent were not reading-proficient in the Department of Education, homelessness is a problem, public housing is hurting and gun violence is prevalent.”
Adams has a lot of changes in mind when it comes to how the city serves its residents and it starts with the basic services residents need. The internet has moved signing up for SNAP benefits, starting and registering a small business and applying for public housing to digital applications.
However, these are still slow, time-consuming processes that require a significant amount of information and patience and knowing the right people. The city’s digital divide adds yet another degree of difficulty to these operations for low-income and immigrant residents.
Adams wants to simplify these processes with his My City card. Instead of filling out online applications and hoping your information is correct, the My City card will make it easier to sign up and receive benefits, city services and apply for licenses and certificates.
“The My City card is one of my most important initiatives, although the city has information on all of the city’s residents, we compel citizens to go from A to Z to get the benefits they are afforded,” Adams said. “My City card will allow residents to have all their information in one year and the city will automatically sign residents up for benefits, for WIC, SNAP and public housing. You shouldn’t have to wait for the government to deal with that when we have your information already.”
Adams’ economic plan also includes a citywide job placement and training program, green energy initiatives, summer youth employment programs and tax-free Tuesdays.
Additional plans for New York City include a quality education for all city children, affordable housing and revolutionizing NYCHA.
When the Marist College alum isn’t campaigning, he loves riding his bike around the city and is also a plant-based eater who enjoys cooking.
“I enjoy riding around the city because it’s a different vision when you’re riding,” Adams said.
Adams believes its high time big cities stop being reactionary to their problems and begin preventing them before they start, and he wants to be the guy to do it. Some of the public figures who are endorsing Adams include Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Thomas Suozzi; Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“All we do in big cities across America — Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit — is hang out downstream in the river and pull people out of the river and they’re mostly Black, brown and immigrants,” Adams said. “It’s actually cheaper to stop them from falling in. It’s cheaper to educate someone, deal with mental health and feed our children healthy food instead of pulling them out of the river downstream, when they’re arrested or homeless or have diabetes.
“It’s just that there’s no incentive to do it because the people who are being pulled out of the river are Black brown and immigrants and the people who make money from that aren’t Black, brown or immigrants. So it’s time to take our cities upstream and prevent these issues.”
Amazon Will Cease Testing Job Seekers For Marijuana Use
Your marijuana habit won’t prevent you from working at Amazon.
Amazon has decided to stop disqualifying people who have applied for employment and may have tested positive for marijuana use.
The company received a message from Amazon’s Dave Clark, CEO, worldwide consumer, that addressed the change in its drug testing policy.
“We’re adjusting our drug testing policy. In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use. However, given where state laws are moving across the U.S., we’ve changed course. We will no longer include marijuana in our comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation, and will instead treat it the same as alcohol use. We will continue to do impairment checks on the job and will test for all drugs and alcohol after any incident.
“And because we know that this issue is bigger than Amazon, our public policy team will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act)—federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records, and invest in impacted communities. We hope that other employers will join us, and that policymakers will act swiftly to pass this law.”
In the same announcement, Amazon also announced a change in its policy called Time off Task, which measures the amount of time an employee is logged into the system software and monitors the activities of an employee. Although the company claims the system identifies issues that may prevent employees from being productive, Amazon admits that it measures their underperformance.
Now, the Time off Task policy will be measured over a longer period of time “to ensure that there’s more signal and less noise—reinforcing the original intent of the program, and focusing Time off Task conversations on how we can help.”
Derek Chauvin Is Broke, Can’t Afford a Paid Lawyer To Appeal His Murder Case
Derek Chauvin, disgraced Minneapolis police officer, fired and convicted for the murder of George Floyd, can’t afford his lawyer defending him in his civil rights case.
In his first time in court Tuesday since his guilty verdict, it was determined that Chauvin is experiencing financial woes as a federal judge deemed him “financially unable” to hire a lawyer, Insider reported.
Magistrate Judge Becky Thorson appointed Eric Nelson, the same defense lawyer who represented and lost Chauvin’s murder trial, to the case.
Chauvin is charged with willfully violating Floyd’s constitutional rights. In May 2020, the former officer restrained Floyd, 46, facedown in a prone position on the pavement for more than nine minutes. He and three fellow officers arrested Floyd, who was accused of using a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a grocery store.
According to a document from the Department of Justice: “Chauvin held his left knee across George Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm as Mr. Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed, and unremitting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive.”
Chauvin was also charged with allegedly using excessive force on a 14-year-old boy in 2017, Revolt TV reported. Chauvin had pressed his knee on the teen’s upper back and neck for more than 17 minutes while the boy was handcuffed in a prone position.
As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in the deadly arrest of Floyd, a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans.
The Popular Obama Portraits are Going on Tour, Kicks Off in Chi-Town
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery announced that The Obama Portraits Tour will travel to five cities across the U.S. from June 2021 through May 2022. Audio-visual elements, educational workshops, curatorial presentations, and select merchandise will be featured along with the official paintings of former President Barack Obama, and former first lady Michelle Obama.
“This special presentation will exchange the conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its potential to engage communities,” The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery said.
Tour locations include:
The Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago—June 18, 2021–Aug. 15, 2021
Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn, New York—Aug. 27, 2021–Oct. 24, 2021
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Los Angeles—Nov. 7, 2021–Jan. 2, 2022
High Museum of Art; Atlanta—Jan. 14, 2022–March 13, 2022
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Houston—March 27, 2022–May 3
Photo credit- Twitter
“It was particularly exciting that Chicago was chosen to be the very first stop and it’s something that we really want to honor, because the Obamas and Chicago are inextricably linked,” The Art Institute of Chicago’s Director of Interpretation Emily Fry toldPeople. “This is the location that has shaped the arc of their professional lives, and it’s where they started their family. It’s a homecoming.”
Additionally, The Art Institute of Chicago added that Chicago is the Obama family’s longtime home.
“Chicago has a unique connection to the Obamas, as does the Art Institute. Michelle Obama recalls visiting frequently with her family when she was growing up on the South Side, and the museum was also the site of the couple’s first date,” The Art Institute of Chicago said online.
President Barack Obama chose artist Kehinde Wiley, who is from New York City, to paint his official portrait. Baltimore-based artist Amy Sherald was selected to paint Michelle Obama’s portrait. Back in 2018, both popular paintings drew strong reactions about how the artists interpreted the famous couple.
Sherald toldThe Baltimore Sun that she tells American stories through the paintings she creates.
“Once my paintings are complete, the models no longer live in the paintings as themselves. I see something bigger in them, something more symbolic, an archetype. I paint things I want to see. I paint as a way of looking for myself in the world,” Sherald said in the interview.
The tour was organized by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Grand Slam Authorities Will Address Naomi Osaka’s Mental Health Concerns
The saga of the mental health of tennis champion Naomi Osaka will further the conversation of how the major tennis organizations will handle future ramifications of forcing the players to adhere to speaking to the press.
According to ESPN, after punishing Osaka for not talking to the media after her first and only match at the French Open and then threatening to disqualify her from future matches, the people who are in charge of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments have promised to address concerns surrounding the mental health of its players.
After being fined $15,000 for not attending her post-match news conference on Sunday after her victory against Patricia Maria Tig, the tennis champion has decided to take a break from the sport as she withdrew from the French Open.
In a joint statement from those in charge of the French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and Australian Open stated, “On behalf of the Grand Slams, we wish to offer Naomi Osaka our support and assistance in any way possible as she takes time away from the court. She is an exceptional athlete and we look forward to her return as soon as she deems appropriate. Mental health is a very challenging issue, which deserves our utmost attention. It is both complex and personal, as what affects one individual does not necessarily affect another. We commend Naomi for sharing in her own words the pressures and anxieties she is feeling and we empathize with the unique pressures tennis players may face.”
Osaka took to social media earlier this week to announce her withdrawal from the tournament as she has decided to focus on her mental health.
“Hey everyone, this isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I posted a few days ago. I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris. I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. More importantly I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.”
David Shands Wants You To Know Sleep is For Suckers, The Entrepreneur Helps Clients Transition From Their Day Job to Their Dream Job
David Shands is one of the hardest working people you will meet. The podcaster, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and one-on-one business coach has a simple motto: sleep is for suckers.
“The motto isn’t necessarily about sleeping, but watching tv, playing video games or spending all day on social media, we consider that sleep,” Shands told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “If you have the ability to accomplish something and you waste that talent, that god-given ability, we consider that sleep, you’re a sucker, so don’t ever get caught sleeping on yourself or your ability.”
Shands’ Youtube channel David Never Sleeps and his podcast Social Proof with co-host Donni Wiggins provides a world of insight and knowledge for entrepreneurs looking to expand their business and ideas. Social Proof is the #7 entrepreneurship `podcast in the country and #43 business podcasts among all podcasts.
“We introduce people who have social proof, who have built something and have a story to tell,” Shands said. “How did you accomplish the things that you’ve accomplished but another important part is the story behind the person. Because the how to is one thing but if you can get the story of somebody you realize the thing that many people used as an excuse, they used as a reason.”
Although Shands grew up in New Jersey, before moving to Georgia in high school, his story begins at a Cheesecake Factory Sands worked at for six year. Like many low-wage employees, Shands wasn’t happy working tables for tips but three years into the job, he received some sage advice from a co-worker that changed his entire experience the last three years he was there.
“Those last three were very interesting because a mentor of mine said ‘this job is going to pay you to be a better person, this job is going to pay you to be better at customer service.'”
It was at that moment Shands realized the Cheesecake Factory was his top investor, and was providing the training opportunity of a lifetime. He spent the next three sharpening his speaking and customer service skills, while at the same time preparing for the day he left.
The biggest project for Shands’ is his Morning Meetup. From 8am to 9am eastern Monday through Friday hosts a one hour meeting for people trying to break into the entrepreneur world, looking to network with other entrepreneurs or trying to take their business to the next level.
“Monday through Friday I jump on a call and I’m coaching entrepreneurship all across the country to between 350 and 500 people,” Shands said. “We have a theme for the month such as financial literacy and every call will support that theme for the month. We also have a book club every day we read a chapter and the next day we discuss it. So far this year we’ve read seven books.”
Shands said he’s driven by constantly staying in the middle and making sure he has the right people around him to keep him motivated to work harder and do more.
“What motivates me most is always staying stuck in the middle,” Shands said. “I always have a mentor and always have a mentee. My mentor is someone that’s further ahead and not just money, they’ve accomplished some things, they have some game that I wish I had but don’t have right now, but I also keep a mentee or clients that I need to be an example for, so I can get the information from my mentor and give it to my mentees and that’s what keeps me sharp.”
Even when Shands is having fun, business and entrepreneurship is on his mind. The former waiter said Monopoly is his favorite game and he can spend hours playing with his friends and family. The one piece of advice Shands has for those who are trying to do anything outside of a nine to five position, but who are still working a nine to five, is to bridge the gap between your reality and your dreams.
“It’s how to create a bridge between your day job and your day dream,” Shands said. “Like there’s a job you go to everyday, but there’s this dream you think about all day at work. So how do we take that reality of the job you have and transition it into a dream, so that dream becomes a reality? That’s the first step”
