Black Lives Matter-Ugliness of Racism.
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Everyone is going nuts over stupid things. WTF is going on?I was just doing my job
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kim Chandler
Published Aug 11, 2023 • Last updated 23 hours ago • 3 minute read
A brawl involving several men at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media
A brawl involving several people at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media. PHOTO BY TWITTER SCREENGRAB /BoreCure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama boat co-captain was hanging on “for dear life” as men punched and tackled him on the capital city’s riverfront, he told police after video of the brawl circulated widely online.
Dameion Pickett, a crew member of the Harriott II in Montgomery, described the brawl in a handwritten statement to authorities included in court documents, saying he was attacked after moving a pontoon boat a few feet so the city-owned riverboat could dock.
Four white boaters have been charged with misdemeanour assault in the attack against Pickett, who is Black, as well as a teen deckhand, who was punched and is white. The deckhand’s mother heard a racial slur before Pickett was hit, she wrote in a statement.
A fifth person, a Black man who appeared to be hitting people with a folding chair during the subsequent fight, has been charged with disorderly conduct, police announced Friday.
Video of the melee sparked scores of memes and video reenactments.
Pickett told police that the captain had asked a group on a pontoon boat “at least five or six times” to move from the riverboat’s designated docking space but they responded by “giving us the finger and packing up to leave.” Pickett and another deckhand eventually took a vessel to shore and moved the pontoon boat “three steps to the right,” he wrote.
He said two people ran rushing back, including one cursing and threatening to beat him for touching the boat. Pickett wrote that one of the men shouted that it was public dock space, but Pickett told them it was the city’s designated space for the riverboat. He said he told them he was “just doing my job.” Pickett said he was punched in the face and hit from behind. Pickett said.
“I went to the ground. I think I bit one of them. All I can hear Imma kill you” and beat you, he wrote. He couldn’t tell “how long it lasted” and “grabbed one of them and just held on for dear life,” Pickett wrote.
After the fight was over Pickett said he apologized to the riverboat customers for the inconvenience as he helped them get off the boat.
The deckhand had gone with Pickett to move the pontoon boat. His mother, who was also on the Harriott, said in a statement to police that her son tried to pull the men off Pickett and was punched in the chest.
Darron Hendley, an attorney listed in court records for two of the people charged, declined to comment. It was not immediately clear if the others had an attorney to speak on their behalf.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said Friday that the investigation is ongoing.
Police said they consulted with the FBI and determined what happened on the riverfront did not qualify as a hate crime. Reed, the city’s first Black mayor, said he will trust the investigative process, but said his “perspective as a Black man in Montgomery differs from my perspective as mayor.”
“From what we’ve seen from the history of our city — a place tied to both the pain and the progress of this nation — it seems to meet the moral definition of a crime fueled by hate, and this kind of violence cannot go unchecked,” Reed said. “It is a threat to the durability of our democracy, and we are grateful to our law enforcement professionals, partner organizations and the greater community for helping us ensure justice will prevail.”
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Alabama boat co-captain attacked in brawl: I was just doing my job
An Alabama boat co-captain was hanging on "for dear life" as men punched and tackled him on the capital city's riverfront, he told police.torontosun.com
Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Aaron Morrison, Aisha I. Jefferson And Kim Chandler
Published Aug 13, 2023 • 6 minute read
A brawl involving several men at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media
A brawl involving several people at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media. PHOTO BY TWITTER SCREENGRAB /BoreCure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As bystanders trained their smartphone cameras on the riverfront dock while several white boaters pummeled a Black riverboat co-captain, they couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity.
Yet, a week after multiple videos showing the now-infamous brawl and valiant defence of the outnumbered co-captain were shared widely on social media, it’s clear the event truly tapped into the psyche of Black America and created a broader cultural moment.
Andrea Boyles, a sociology professor at Tulane University, said a long history of anti-Black racism and attacks and current events likely magnified the attack’s impact and response.
“Especially at a time like now where we see an increase in anti-Black racism through legislation and otherwise, whether we’re thinking about history, the banning of Black history and curriculum and all sorts of things across the state of Florida” and elsewhere, Boyles said. “So this is why it is on the forefront of people’s minds. And folks are very much tuned in, Black people in particular.”
Many see the Aug. 5 ordeal on the riverfront dock in Montgomery, Alabama’s capital city steeped in civil rights history, as a long-awaited answer to countless calls for help that went unanswered for past Black victims of violence and mob attacks.
“We witnessed a white mob doing this to him,” said Michelle Browder, an artist and social justice entrepreneur in Montgomery, describing the attack by boaters on the Black riverboat co-captain.
“I call it a mob because that is what it was, it was a mob mentality,” she added. “It then became a moment because you saw Black people coming together.”
After being inundated with images and stories of lethal violence against Black people, including motorists in traffic stops, church parishioners and grocery shoppers, the video from Montgomery struck a chord because it didn’t end in the worst of outcomes for Black Americans.
“For Montgomery to have this moment, we needed to see a win. We needed to see our community coming together and we needed to see justice,” Browder said.
Videos of the brawl showed the participants largely divided along racial lines. Several white men punched or shoved the Black riverboat co-captain after he took a separate vessel to shore and tried to move their pontoon boat. The white boaters’ private vessel was docked in a spot designated for the city-owned Harriott II riverboat, on which more than 200 passengers were waiting to disembark.
The videos then showed mostly Black people rushing to the co-captain’s defence, including a Black teenage riverboat crew member who swam to the dock. The videos also showed the ensuing brawl that included a Black man hitting a white person with a folding chair.
As of Friday, Alabama police had charged four white people with misdemeanour assault. The folding chair-wielding man turned himself in Friday and was charged with disorderly conduct.
Jim Kittrell, the captain of Harriott II, told The Daily Beast that he thought race might have been a factor in the initial attack on his co-captain, but the resulting melee was not a “Black and white thing.”
“This was our crew upset about these idiots,” Kittrell also told WACV radio station.
He later explained that several members of his crew, seen confronting the pontoon boat party after the riverboat docked, “felt they had to retaliate, which was unfortunate.”
“I wish we could have stopped it from happening but, when you see something like that, it was difficult. It was difficult for me to sit there in the wheelhouse watching him being attacked,” Kittrell told the station.
Kittrell told The Associated Press by phone that the city had asked him not to talk about the brawl.
Major Saba Coleman of the Montgomery Police Department said on Tuesday that hate crime charges were ruled out after the department consulted with the local FBI. But several observers noted the presence of a hate motivation, or lack thereof, on the part of the pontoon boat party was not why the event resonated so strongly.
“All these individuals having smartphones and cameras have democratized media and information. In the past, it was a very narrow scope on what news was being reported and from what perspectives,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said.
The technology, Johnson added, “opened up an opportunity for America as a whole to understand the impact of racism, the impact of violence and the opportunity to create a narrative that’s more consistent with keeping African Americans and other communities safe.”
The riverfront brawl spawned a multitude of memes, jokes, parodies, reenactments and even T-shirts. “Lift every chair and swing,” read one shirt in a play on ” Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” the late-19th century hymn sometimes referred to as the Black national anthem.
Another meme likened the co-captain’s toss of his hat into the air to sending the “bat signal,” a reference to the D.C. Comics character Batman. One image of the scene captured from bystander video was altered to imitate Marvel Comics’ Avengers characters assembling through magic portals on the dock to defend the Black co-captain.
Many observers on social media were quick to point out the significance of the city and location where the brawl took place. Montgomery was the first capital of the Confederacy and the riverfront is an area where enslaved people were once unloaded to be sold at auction. The area is a few blocks from the spot where Rosa Parks was arrested for disobeying bus segregation laws.
“Much of (the riverfront brawl reaction) is emblematic of the history of Montgomery,” said Timothy Welbeck, the director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University in Philadelphia.
“This is the home of the bus boycott; this is the home of intense, racialized segregation and various forms of resistance today,” he said. “Even if there wasn’t an explicit mention of race, many people saw a white man assaulting a Black man as a proxy for some of the racist behavior that they’ve seen before. It brought about a sense of solidarity and unified fate, too, in this particular moment.”
Then there’s the lingering trauma of seeing past Black victims of violence and mob attacks suffer without help or intervention. Here was the rare event in which bystanders not only chronicled the moment but were able to intervene and help someone they saw being victimized.
In other notable instances, such as George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, bystanders were restrained because the perpetrators were law enforcement officers. In a video of Floyd’s encounter with police filmed by Black bystander Darnella Frazier, people can be heard pleading for the Black man’s life as he gasped for air with a white officer’s knee held to his neck.
Physically intervening in Minneapolis would have invited arrests and placed the would-be rescuers at risk for harm themselves.
Historically, lynching victims were often taken from their families as the Black community had to stand by mutely. Emmett Till’s family members in Mississippi were haunted by their inability to stop the white men who kidnapped and killed him.
Bowder, the Montgomery artist, said the conversation needs to continue.
“I’m hoping for a hopeful message out of this,” she said.
Katrina Hazzard, a Rutgers University professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, said she has seen that hopeful message in the comments of support that have crossed racial and ethnic lines in identifying the aggressors and the right for people to defend themselves and the crewman.
“That’s just been refreshing for me to see and for me to hear across the board,” she said.
— Aisha I. Jefferson reported from Chicago and Aaron Morrison, who reported from New York, is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. AP reporter Gary Fields contributed from Washington, D.C.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Aaron Morrison, Aisha I. Jefferson And Kim Chandler
Published Aug 13, 2023 • 6 minute read
A brawl involving several men at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media
A brawl involving several people at Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Ala., was captured in a video shared on social media. PHOTO BY TWITTER SCREENGRAB /BoreCure
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As bystanders trained their smartphone cameras on the riverfront dock while several white boaters pummeled a Black riverboat co-captain, they couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity.
Yet, a week after multiple videos showing the now-infamous brawl and valiant defence of the outnumbered co-captain were shared widely on social media, it’s clear the event truly tapped into the psyche of Black America and created a broader cultural moment.
Andrea Boyles, a sociology professor at Tulane University, said a long history of anti-Black racism and attacks and current events likely magnified the attack’s impact and response.
“Especially at a time like now where we see an increase in anti-Black racism through legislation and otherwise, whether we’re thinking about history, the banning of Black history and curriculum and all sorts of things across the state of Florida” and elsewhere, Boyles said. “So this is why it is on the forefront of people’s minds. And folks are very much tuned in, Black people in particular.”
Many see the Aug. 5 ordeal on the riverfront dock in Montgomery, Alabama’s capital city steeped in civil rights history, as a long-awaited answer to countless calls for help that went unanswered for past Black victims of violence and mob attacks.
“We witnessed a white mob doing this to him,” said Michelle Browder, an artist and social justice entrepreneur in Montgomery, describing the attack by boaters on the Black riverboat co-captain.
“I call it a mob because that is what it was, it was a mob mentality,” she added. “It then became a moment because you saw Black people coming together.”
After being inundated with images and stories of lethal violence against Black people, including motorists in traffic stops, church parishioners and grocery shoppers, the video from Montgomery struck a chord because it didn’t end in the worst of outcomes for Black Americans.
“For Montgomery to have this moment, we needed to see a win. We needed to see our community coming together and we needed to see justice,” Browder said.
Videos of the brawl showed the participants largely divided along racial lines. Several white men punched or shoved the Black riverboat co-captain after he took a separate vessel to shore and tried to move their pontoon boat. The white boaters’ private vessel was docked in a spot designated for the city-owned Harriott II riverboat, on which more than 200 passengers were waiting to disembark.
The videos then showed mostly Black people rushing to the co-captain’s defence, including a Black teenage riverboat crew member who swam to the dock. The videos also showed the ensuing brawl that included a Black man hitting a white person with a folding chair.
As of Friday, Alabama police had charged four white people with misdemeanour assault. The folding chair-wielding man turned himself in Friday and was charged with disorderly conduct.
Jim Kittrell, the captain of Harriott II, told The Daily Beast that he thought race might have been a factor in the initial attack on his co-captain, but the resulting melee was not a “Black and white thing.”
“This was our crew upset about these idiots,” Kittrell also told WACV radio station.
He later explained that several members of his crew, seen confronting the pontoon boat party after the riverboat docked, “felt they had to retaliate, which was unfortunate.”
“I wish we could have stopped it from happening but, when you see something like that, it was difficult. It was difficult for me to sit there in the wheelhouse watching him being attacked,” Kittrell told the station.
Kittrell told The Associated Press by phone that the city had asked him not to talk about the brawl.
Major Saba Coleman of the Montgomery Police Department said on Tuesday that hate crime charges were ruled out after the department consulted with the local FBI. But several observers noted the presence of a hate motivation, or lack thereof, on the part of the pontoon boat party was not why the event resonated so strongly.
“All these individuals having smartphones and cameras have democratized media and information. In the past, it was a very narrow scope on what news was being reported and from what perspectives,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said.
The technology, Johnson added, “opened up an opportunity for America as a whole to understand the impact of racism, the impact of violence and the opportunity to create a narrative that’s more consistent with keeping African Americans and other communities safe.”
The riverfront brawl spawned a multitude of memes, jokes, parodies, reenactments and even T-shirts. “Lift every chair and swing,” read one shirt in a play on ” Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” the late-19th century hymn sometimes referred to as the Black national anthem.
Another meme likened the co-captain’s toss of his hat into the air to sending the “bat signal,” a reference to the D.C. Comics character Batman. One image of the scene captured from bystander video was altered to imitate Marvel Comics’ Avengers characters assembling through magic portals on the dock to defend the Black co-captain.
Many observers on social media were quick to point out the significance of the city and location where the brawl took place. Montgomery was the first capital of the Confederacy and the riverfront is an area where enslaved people were once unloaded to be sold at auction. The area is a few blocks from the spot where Rosa Parks was arrested for disobeying bus segregation laws.
“Much of (the riverfront brawl reaction) is emblematic of the history of Montgomery,” said Timothy Welbeck, the director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University in Philadelphia.
“This is the home of the bus boycott; this is the home of intense, racialized segregation and various forms of resistance today,” he said. “Even if there wasn’t an explicit mention of race, many people saw a white man assaulting a Black man as a proxy for some of the racist behavior that they’ve seen before. It brought about a sense of solidarity and unified fate, too, in this particular moment.”
Then there’s the lingering trauma of seeing past Black victims of violence and mob attacks suffer without help or intervention. Here was the rare event in which bystanders not only chronicled the moment but were able to intervene and help someone they saw being victimized.
In other notable instances, such as George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, bystanders were restrained because the perpetrators were law enforcement officers. In a video of Floyd’s encounter with police filmed by Black bystander Darnella Frazier, people can be heard pleading for the Black man’s life as he gasped for air with a white officer’s knee held to his neck.
Physically intervening in Minneapolis would have invited arrests and placed the would-be rescuers at risk for harm themselves.
Historically, lynching victims were often taken from their families as the Black community had to stand by mutely. Emmett Till’s family members in Mississippi were haunted by their inability to stop the white men who kidnapped and killed him.
Bowder, the Montgomery artist, said the conversation needs to continue.
“I’m hoping for a hopeful message out of this,” she said.
Katrina Hazzard, a Rutgers University professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, said she has seen that hopeful message in the comments of support that have crossed racial and ethnic lines in identifying the aggressors and the right for people to defend themselves and the crewman.
“That’s just been refreshing for me to see and for me to hear across the board,” she said.
— Aisha I. Jefferson reported from Chicago and Aaron Morrison, who reported from New York, is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. AP reporter Gary Fields contributed from Washington, D.C.
Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice
It's clear the event truly tapped into the psyche of Black America and created a broader cultural moment.
Blown waaaaay waaaaay out of proportion.
Look where it's coming from.
BTW how is that Hunter Biden case coming along or have you been distracted by the soup shit, UFOs, Trump, a brawl that is not unlike any Saturday night almost anywhere on earth?
What are they hiding right in front of your nose?
Six former Mississippi officers plead guilty to state charges for torturing two Black men
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Goldberg
Published Aug 14, 2023 • 5 minute read
The six officers pleaded guilty to torturing Parker and another Black man in a racist assault.
BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty on Monday to state charges for torturing two Black men in a racist assault. All six had recently admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case.
In the gruesome crimes committed by six men who had been tasked with enforcing the law, federal prosecutors saw echoes of violence some Mississippi police officers inflicted on civil rights activists decades ago. Locally, the sheriff whose deputies committed the crimes called it the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen.
Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks including the assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
In January, the officers entered a house without a warrant and handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers mocked them with racial slurs throughout a 90-minute torture session, then devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges that stood against the victims for months.
Their conspiracy unraveled after one of the officers told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others. The charges against the victims weren’t dropped until June, after federal and state investigators got involved, according to their attorney.
The men include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies _ Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke — and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield. Each appeared Monday in jump suits with the names of jails covered by tape.
Each agreed to sentences recommended by state prosecutors ranging from five to 30 years, although the judge isn’t bound by that. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the potentially longer federal sentences they’ll receive in November.
The victims — Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker _ arrived together to Monday’s hearing and sat in the front row, just feet from their attackers’ families. They were embraced by Monica Lee, the mother of Damien Cameron, a Black man who died in Elward’s custody in 2021.
“I enjoyed the view of seeing the walk of shame. Head down, the disgust everybody felt for them and that they feel for themselves,” Parker said after the officers were led away in shackles. “I hope this is a lesson to everybody out there: Justice will be served.”
The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March that linked some of the officers to at least four violent encounters since 2019 that left two Black men dead. In addition to Jenkins’ lasting injuries, another Black man also accused them of shoving a gun inside his mouth. The Justice Department launched a civil rights probe in February. The fallout has continued ever since.
All six of the former officers pleaded guilty to state charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. Dedmon and Elward, who kicked in a door, also admitted to home invasion, and Elward pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, for shoving a gun into the mouth of one of the victims and pulling the trigger, in what authorities called a “mock execution.”
The six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
The six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
After details of the case became public, some residents pointed to a police culture they said gives officers carte blanche to abuse their power.
Rankin County’s majority-white suburbs have been a destination for white flight out of the capital, Jackson, which is home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city.
The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” the federal charging documents say.
Jenkins and Parker were targeted because a white neighbor complained that two Black men were staying at the home with a white woman, court documents show.
Parker was a childhood friend of the homeowner, Kristi Walley, who was at the hospital at the time. She’s been paralyzed since she was 15, and Parker was helping care for her.
“He’s a blessing. Every time I’ve needed him he’s been here,” Walley said in a February interview. “There were times I’ve been living here by myself and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Parker and Jenkins have left Mississippi and aren’t sure they will ever return for a long stay.
Jenkins still has difficulty speaking because of his injuries. The gunshot lacerated his tongue and broke his jaw before exiting his neck. He can only eat soft foods easily and has recurrent nightmares.
“As far as justice, I knew we were going to get it,” Jenkins said. “But I thought it was maybe going to take longer.”
Other consequences remain to be determined.
Lee claims Elward and a current deputy not linked to the Jenkins assault killed her son. A grand jury declined to indict Elward after he punched Cameron and shocked him with a stun gun, but a Rankin County judge ruled Wednesday that Lee’s claims of excessive force could move forward against him, and Lee said the FBI told her they are reviewing the case.
Separately, Carvis Johnson, the Black man who said another deputy pointed a gun into his mouth, filed a federal lawsuit from behind bars alleging that McAlpin beat him during an arrest and told him to stay out of Rankin County.
Jenkins and Parker, meanwhile, are seeking $400 million in damages in their federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey applauded the investigations that led to the guilty pleas.
“I believe today’s guilty pleas show the community that our system of checks and balances is effective,” Bailey said in a statement after the hearing. “An unbiased and impartial investigation into these former officers uncovered their criminal actions.”
Bailey had acknowledged his lax body camera policy failed. After the officers pleaded guilty, he promised to change it.
Court documents unsealed by federal prosecutors suggest only some members of the Goon Squad participated in the illegal raid. There are other Rankin County deputies “known to the United States Attorney,” the documents say.
“We would certainly hope that they continue to investigate the Goon Squad and other outstanding claims that may exist against these officers, as well as other officers,” said Trent Walker, an attorney for Jenkins and Parker.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Goldberg
Published Aug 14, 2023 • 5 minute read
The six officers pleaded guilty to torturing Parker and another Black man in a racist assault.
BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty on Monday to state charges for torturing two Black men in a racist assault. All six had recently admitted their guilt in a connected federal civil rights case.
In the gruesome crimes committed by six men who had been tasked with enforcing the law, federal prosecutors saw echoes of violence some Mississippi police officers inflicted on civil rights activists decades ago. Locally, the sheriff whose deputies committed the crimes called it the worst case of police brutality he had ever seen.
Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the “Goon Squad” because of their willingness to use excessive force and cover up attacks including the assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
In January, the officers entered a house without a warrant and handcuffed and assaulted the two men with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects. The officers mocked them with racial slurs throughout a 90-minute torture session, then devised a cover-up that included planting drugs and a gun, leading to false charges that stood against the victims for months.
Their conspiracy unraveled after one of the officers told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others. The charges against the victims weren’t dropped until June, after federal and state investigators got involved, according to their attorney.
The men include five former Rankin County sheriff’s deputies _ Brett McAlpin, Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Jeffrey Middleton and Daniel Opdyke — and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield. Each appeared Monday in jump suits with the names of jails covered by tape.
Each agreed to sentences recommended by state prosecutors ranging from five to 30 years, although the judge isn’t bound by that. Time served for the state convictions will run concurrently with the potentially longer federal sentences they’ll receive in November.
The victims — Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker _ arrived together to Monday’s hearing and sat in the front row, just feet from their attackers’ families. They were embraced by Monica Lee, the mother of Damien Cameron, a Black man who died in Elward’s custody in 2021.
“I enjoyed the view of seeing the walk of shame. Head down, the disgust everybody felt for them and that they feel for themselves,” Parker said after the officers were led away in shackles. “I hope this is a lesson to everybody out there: Justice will be served.”
The charges followed an Associated Press investigation in March that linked some of the officers to at least four violent encounters since 2019 that left two Black men dead. In addition to Jenkins’ lasting injuries, another Black man also accused them of shoving a gun inside his mouth. The Justice Department launched a civil rights probe in February. The fallout has continued ever since.
All six of the former officers pleaded guilty to state charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. Dedmon and Elward, who kicked in a door, also admitted to home invasion, and Elward pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, for shoving a gun into the mouth of one of the victims and pulling the trigger, in what authorities called a “mock execution.”
The six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
The six white former Mississippi law officers pleaded guilty to state charges on Monday for torturing two Black men in a racist assault that ended with a deputy shooting one victim in the mouth.
After details of the case became public, some residents pointed to a police culture they said gives officers carte blanche to abuse their power.
Rankin County’s majority-white suburbs have been a destination for white flight out of the capital, Jackson, which is home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city.
The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” the federal charging documents say.
Jenkins and Parker were targeted because a white neighbor complained that two Black men were staying at the home with a white woman, court documents show.
Parker was a childhood friend of the homeowner, Kristi Walley, who was at the hospital at the time. She’s been paralyzed since she was 15, and Parker was helping care for her.
“He’s a blessing. Every time I’ve needed him he’s been here,” Walley said in a February interview. “There were times I’ve been living here by myself and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Parker and Jenkins have left Mississippi and aren’t sure they will ever return for a long stay.
Jenkins still has difficulty speaking because of his injuries. The gunshot lacerated his tongue and broke his jaw before exiting his neck. He can only eat soft foods easily and has recurrent nightmares.
“As far as justice, I knew we were going to get it,” Jenkins said. “But I thought it was maybe going to take longer.”
Other consequences remain to be determined.
Lee claims Elward and a current deputy not linked to the Jenkins assault killed her son. A grand jury declined to indict Elward after he punched Cameron and shocked him with a stun gun, but a Rankin County judge ruled Wednesday that Lee’s claims of excessive force could move forward against him, and Lee said the FBI told her they are reviewing the case.
Separately, Carvis Johnson, the Black man who said another deputy pointed a gun into his mouth, filed a federal lawsuit from behind bars alleging that McAlpin beat him during an arrest and told him to stay out of Rankin County.
Jenkins and Parker, meanwhile, are seeking $400 million in damages in their federal civil rights lawsuit against Rankin County.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey applauded the investigations that led to the guilty pleas.
“I believe today’s guilty pleas show the community that our system of checks and balances is effective,” Bailey said in a statement after the hearing. “An unbiased and impartial investigation into these former officers uncovered their criminal actions.”
Bailey had acknowledged his lax body camera policy failed. After the officers pleaded guilty, he promised to change it.
Court documents unsealed by federal prosecutors suggest only some members of the Goon Squad participated in the illegal raid. There are other Rankin County deputies “known to the United States Attorney,” the documents say.
“We would certainly hope that they continue to investigate the Goon Squad and other outstanding claims that may exist against these officers, as well as other officers,” said Trent Walker, an attorney for Jenkins and Parker.
Six former Mississippi officers plead guilty to state charges for torturing two Black men
Prosecutors say some of the officers nicknamed themselves the "Goon Squad" because of their willingness to use excessive force.
hunter will become the next president after touch'em all joe.
in regards to ufos, they are cool. 
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Judge declares mistrial in case of 2 white men charged in attack on Black FedEx driver
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Aug 17, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
BROOKHAVEN, Miss. — Citing errors by police, a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx driver who was making a delivery.
Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Jackson.
Judge David Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended the session early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.
The judge said the officer also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside the home. Defense attorneys requested the mistrial, and Strong said he had no choice but to grant it.
“In 17 years, I don’t think I’ve seen it,” the judge said of the errors.
Sharon McClendon, Gibson’s mother, burst out with a loud expletive in the courtroom after the judge’s announcement, and she and her son declined to speak to reporters as they left the courthouse. Highway Patrol officers walked with them to a private vehicle, and some supporters hugged Gibson.
Rayshun Bridges, of Brookhaven, stood outside the courthouse with a handwritten poster reading: “We want justice for D’Monterrio.” He said he does not know Gibson but has been following news coverage of the case.
“That young guy, he was at work trying to do his job,” Bridges said.
The Cases, who remain out on bond, sat stoically as the judge announced his decision. Terrell Stubbs, the defense attorney for Gregory Case, declined to comment.
After court adjourned, District Attorney Dee Bates, who leaves office at the end of the year, told reporters that he disagrees with the judge’s decision. The new trial is not expected before the end of the year because the judge’s docket is full through December, a court official said.
Carlos Moore, Gibson’s attorney in a civil lawsuit, said the mistrial “represents not just an administrative setback but also a delay in justice for Mr. Gibson and his family.”
Moore said he has asked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the Brookhaven Police Department for misconduct.
“It is concerning that BPD withheld a potentially crucial evidence piece of evidence,” Moore said of the videotaped statement. “We believe that this is not an isolated incident but a part of a larger pattern of obstruction by BPD.”
Moore also called for the Justice Department to bring federal hate crime charges against the Cases, who defense attorneys have said tried to stop Gibson because he was driving a rental van with a Florida license plate and they wanted to know who was near a family home after dark.
The encounter between Gibson and the Cases happened as Gibson made FedEx deliveries on the evening of Jan. 24, 2022, while driving a van with the Hertz logo on three sides. After he dropped off a package at a home on a dead-end public road, Gregory Case used a pickup truck to try to block the van from leaving, and Brandon Case came outside with a gun, Bates told the majority-white jury.
As Gibson drove the van around the pickup truck, shots were fired, with three rounds hitting the delivery van and some of the packages inside, Bates said.
Stubbs told jurors that his client saw a van outside his mother-in-law’s unoccupied home and went to check what was happening. The elder Case was just going to ask the van driver what was going on, but the driver did not stop, Stubbs said.
Detective Fernando testified that a truck stop’s security camera video recorded a white van being followed by a pickup truck at 7:31 p.m., 14 minutes before Gregory Case called police.
A police dispatcher testified that the elder Case called first, reporting he had seen a suspicious vehicle near his home and the van almost ran over him. Audio of the call was played in court, with Case saying he thought the driver was up to “something that wasn’t good.”
Gibson called shortly later, reporting that someone shot at the van while he was delivering a package, the dispatcher said.
Fernando also said cellphone records showed calls between the father and son’s phones that evening before Gregory Case called police.
Gibson is still employed by FedEx but is on workers’ compensation leave, Moore said. A judge last week dismissed Gibson’s federal lawsuit seeking $5 million from FedEx, writing that the lawsuit failed to prove the company discriminated against him because of his race. That litigation also named the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the Cases, and Moore said he plans to file a new civil suit in state court.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus
Published Aug 17, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 4 minute read
BROOKHAVEN, Miss. — Citing errors by police, a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx driver who was making a delivery.
Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Jackson.
Judge David Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended the session early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.
The judge said the officer also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside the home. Defense attorneys requested the mistrial, and Strong said he had no choice but to grant it.
“In 17 years, I don’t think I’ve seen it,” the judge said of the errors.
Sharon McClendon, Gibson’s mother, burst out with a loud expletive in the courtroom after the judge’s announcement, and she and her son declined to speak to reporters as they left the courthouse. Highway Patrol officers walked with them to a private vehicle, and some supporters hugged Gibson.
Rayshun Bridges, of Brookhaven, stood outside the courthouse with a handwritten poster reading: “We want justice for D’Monterrio.” He said he does not know Gibson but has been following news coverage of the case.
“That young guy, he was at work trying to do his job,” Bridges said.
The Cases, who remain out on bond, sat stoically as the judge announced his decision. Terrell Stubbs, the defense attorney for Gregory Case, declined to comment.
After court adjourned, District Attorney Dee Bates, who leaves office at the end of the year, told reporters that he disagrees with the judge’s decision. The new trial is not expected before the end of the year because the judge’s docket is full through December, a court official said.
Carlos Moore, Gibson’s attorney in a civil lawsuit, said the mistrial “represents not just an administrative setback but also a delay in justice for Mr. Gibson and his family.”
Moore said he has asked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the Brookhaven Police Department for misconduct.
“It is concerning that BPD withheld a potentially crucial evidence piece of evidence,” Moore said of the videotaped statement. “We believe that this is not an isolated incident but a part of a larger pattern of obstruction by BPD.”
Moore also called for the Justice Department to bring federal hate crime charges against the Cases, who defense attorneys have said tried to stop Gibson because he was driving a rental van with a Florida license plate and they wanted to know who was near a family home after dark.
The encounter between Gibson and the Cases happened as Gibson made FedEx deliveries on the evening of Jan. 24, 2022, while driving a van with the Hertz logo on three sides. After he dropped off a package at a home on a dead-end public road, Gregory Case used a pickup truck to try to block the van from leaving, and Brandon Case came outside with a gun, Bates told the majority-white jury.
As Gibson drove the van around the pickup truck, shots were fired, with three rounds hitting the delivery van and some of the packages inside, Bates said.
Stubbs told jurors that his client saw a van outside his mother-in-law’s unoccupied home and went to check what was happening. The elder Case was just going to ask the van driver what was going on, but the driver did not stop, Stubbs said.
Detective Fernando testified that a truck stop’s security camera video recorded a white van being followed by a pickup truck at 7:31 p.m., 14 minutes before Gregory Case called police.
A police dispatcher testified that the elder Case called first, reporting he had seen a suspicious vehicle near his home and the van almost ran over him. Audio of the call was played in court, with Case saying he thought the driver was up to “something that wasn’t good.”
Gibson called shortly later, reporting that someone shot at the van while he was delivering a package, the dispatcher said.
Fernando also said cellphone records showed calls between the father and son’s phones that evening before Gregory Case called police.
Gibson is still employed by FedEx but is on workers’ compensation leave, Moore said. A judge last week dismissed Gibson’s federal lawsuit seeking $5 million from FedEx, writing that the lawsuit failed to prove the company discriminated against him because of his race. That litigation also named the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the Cases, and Moore said he plans to file a new civil suit in state court.
Judge declares mistrial in case of 2 white men charged in attack on Black FedEx driver
A Mississippi judge declared a mistrial in the case of white men charged in the attack on a Black FedEx employee who was making a delivery
Dundas St. name change potentially 'very disruptive' to small biz: CFIB
There are thousands of businesses on Dundas Street
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Aug 20, 2023 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 1 minute read
Changing the name of Dundas St. will leave small businesses to contend with a pile of paperwork on top of the daily challenges of maintaining their operations, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The street is home to 4,500 businesses and of those, approximately 60 have “Dundas” as a part of their name, noted Julie Kwiecinski, the CFIB’s provincial affairs director.
“Changing a street name for any reason would need a lot of paperwork at all levels of government on top of having to do your internal stuff like informing customers, suppliers and anyone else involved in your business operations,” said Kwiecinski.
Marketing materials, business cards and store signs are examples of things that businesses could have to change if city council goes ahead with its plan to change the name of the 23 kilometres of the street — named after controversial 18th-century politician Henry Dundas — that runs through Toronto. The move to make the change came after many took umbrage with the Dundas’ connection to the slave trade.
“So it may look like a small thing, but these are the steps that a business has to take. So it could be very disruptive.”
Toronto council voted in favour of changing the street’s moniker two years ago and is waiting for a report this fall which is expected to shortlist alternative names for the arterial road.
Councillor Shelley Carroll recently told Newstalk 1010 that given the city’s $1.5 billion budget shortfall, city council will not immediately act to make any changes because “we don’t have the money to do it right now.”
Kwiecinski added that so far, she hasn’t heard a lot from small businesses about the name change.
“What we find with our businesses, and I see this day in, and day out, I’ve been doing this job with CFIB for seven years, unless the thing is actually a thing, it’s a rule in place, you don’t hear about it,” she said.
torontosun.com
There are thousands of businesses on Dundas Street
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Published Aug 20, 2023 • Last updated 10 hours ago • 1 minute read
Changing the name of Dundas St. will leave small businesses to contend with a pile of paperwork on top of the daily challenges of maintaining their operations, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The street is home to 4,500 businesses and of those, approximately 60 have “Dundas” as a part of their name, noted Julie Kwiecinski, the CFIB’s provincial affairs director.
“Changing a street name for any reason would need a lot of paperwork at all levels of government on top of having to do your internal stuff like informing customers, suppliers and anyone else involved in your business operations,” said Kwiecinski.
Marketing materials, business cards and store signs are examples of things that businesses could have to change if city council goes ahead with its plan to change the name of the 23 kilometres of the street — named after controversial 18th-century politician Henry Dundas — that runs through Toronto. The move to make the change came after many took umbrage with the Dundas’ connection to the slave trade.
“So it may look like a small thing, but these are the steps that a business has to take. So it could be very disruptive.”
Toronto council voted in favour of changing the street’s moniker two years ago and is waiting for a report this fall which is expected to shortlist alternative names for the arterial road.
Councillor Shelley Carroll recently told Newstalk 1010 that given the city’s $1.5 billion budget shortfall, city council will not immediately act to make any changes because “we don’t have the money to do it right now.”
Kwiecinski added that so far, she hasn’t heard a lot from small businesses about the name change.
“What we find with our businesses, and I see this day in, and day out, I’ve been doing this job with CFIB for seven years, unless the thing is actually a thing, it’s a rule in place, you don’t hear about it,” she said.
Dundas St. name change potentially 'very disruptive' to small biz: CFIB
Changing the name of Dundas St. will leave small businesses to contend with a pile of paperwork, says the CFIB.
Starbucks told to pay $2.7M more to ex-manager awarded $25.6M over firing
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 20, 2023 • 2 minute read
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A judge has ordered Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former regional manager earlier awarded more than $25 million after she alleged she that and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.
In June, Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky on Wednesday also ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips another $2.73 million in lost compensation and tax damages, according to court documents. The company opposed paying any amount, saying Philipps had not proven she couldn’t have earned the same or more in the future.
In April 2018, a Philadelphia store manager called police on two Black men who were sitting in the coffee shop without ordering anything. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were later released without charges.
Phillips, then regional manager of operations in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, was not involved with arrests. However, she said she was ordered to put a white manager who also wasn’t involved on administrative leave for reasons she knew were false, according to her lawsuit.
Phillips, 52, said she was fired less than a month later after objecting to the manager being placed on leave amid the uproar, according to her lawsuit.
The company’s rationale for suspending the district manager, who was not responsible for the store where the arrests took place, was an allegation that Black store managers were being paid less than white managers, according to the lawsuit. Phillips said that argument made no sense since district managers had no input on employee salaries.
The lawsuit alleged Starbucks was instead taking steps to “punish white employees” who worked in the area “in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident.”
Starbucks lawyers had alleged that Phillips was fired because the company needed stronger leadership in the aftermath of the arrests.
Starbucks is seeking a new trial, arguing that jurors were allowed to remain despite having expressed negative opinions about the company, that incorrect information in witness testimony “poisoned the well” and that Phillips should not have been awarded “double damages” on both the state and federal allegations, the Inquirer reported.
Phillips’ lawyers, meanwhile, also want Starbucks ordered to pay $1.4 million in legal fees from 2018 through 2023.
Video of the arrest prompted a national outcry, and the company later reached a settlement with both men for an undisclosed sum and an offer of free college education.
The two men reached a deal with the city of Philadelphia for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. The Philadelphia Police Department adopted a new policy on how to deal with people accused of trespassing on private property — warning businesses against misusing the authority of police officers.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 20, 2023 • 2 minute read
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A judge has ordered Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former regional manager earlier awarded more than $25 million after she alleged she that and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.
In June, Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination laws.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky on Wednesday also ordered Starbucks to pay Phillips another $2.73 million in lost compensation and tax damages, according to court documents. The company opposed paying any amount, saying Philipps had not proven she couldn’t have earned the same or more in the future.
In April 2018, a Philadelphia store manager called police on two Black men who were sitting in the coffee shop without ordering anything. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were later released without charges.
Phillips, then regional manager of operations in Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, was not involved with arrests. However, she said she was ordered to put a white manager who also wasn’t involved on administrative leave for reasons she knew were false, according to her lawsuit.
Phillips, 52, said she was fired less than a month later after objecting to the manager being placed on leave amid the uproar, according to her lawsuit.
The company’s rationale for suspending the district manager, who was not responsible for the store where the arrests took place, was an allegation that Black store managers were being paid less than white managers, according to the lawsuit. Phillips said that argument made no sense since district managers had no input on employee salaries.
The lawsuit alleged Starbucks was instead taking steps to “punish white employees” who worked in the area “in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident.”
Starbucks lawyers had alleged that Phillips was fired because the company needed stronger leadership in the aftermath of the arrests.
Starbucks is seeking a new trial, arguing that jurors were allowed to remain despite having expressed negative opinions about the company, that incorrect information in witness testimony “poisoned the well” and that Phillips should not have been awarded “double damages” on both the state and federal allegations, the Inquirer reported.
Phillips’ lawyers, meanwhile, also want Starbucks ordered to pay $1.4 million in legal fees from 2018 through 2023.
Video of the arrest prompted a national outcry, and the company later reached a settlement with both men for an undisclosed sum and an offer of free college education.
The two men reached a deal with the city of Philadelphia for a symbolic $1 each and a promise from officials to set up a $200,000 program for young entrepreneurs. The Philadelphia Police Department adopted a new policy on how to deal with people accused of trespassing on private property — warning businesses against misusing the authority of police officers.
Starbucks told to pay $2.7M more to ex-manager awarded $25.6M over firing
In June, Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
This Is A WIN For Men Everywhere
#shorts #TheCommentsSection #BrettCooper #DailyWire #Reaction #React #Politics #Culture #Entertainment #TikTok #funny #humor #jokes #tiktok #viraltiktok #wok...
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Yonge St., Wellesley, Churchill and more on city renaming list
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
Full list of street names city staff believes no longer reflect Toronto's values will leave many shaking their heads, writes columnist Brian Lilley.
A Dundas St. W. sign in Toronto. Full list of street names city staff believes no longer reflect Toronto's values will leave many shaking their heads, writes columnist Brian Lilley.
Are we ready to give up Yonge St. in Toronto? The most famous street in the city is on the list of streets and places that should be considered for renaming.
The same city report that pushed forward the idea of renaming Dundas St. said that there were 60 street names, including 12 named for slave owners, which “are no longer considered to be reflective of the city’s contemporary values.”
Looking at the full list, you can easily understand why some would be considered at odds with contemporary values, but others could leave you scratching your head. I asked city staff if there was a report that explained why each name was selected, and was sent general reports on renaming and the new policy on commemoration.
So, why rename Yonge St.?
It likely has to do with George Yonge’s involvement with slavery. Who is George Yonge you ask?
He’s the man Yonge Street was named after in 1794 due to his friendship with Upper Canada’s first Governor, John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe, who passed the first anti-slavery legislation in the British Empire, named the road after his friend because Yonge was an expert in the roadways and construction techniques of ancient Rome.
Six years later, though, in 1800, Yonge was named governor of the Cape Colony, a British outpost in what is now South Africa. He immediately set about ignoring rules on slavery and the slave trade that Britain imposed on its colonies.
He was in essence a slave smuggler.
Chances are most people reading this had no idea George Yonge ever existed or that this failure of an aristocrat is who Yonge St. in Toronto was named after. To be outraged, most people would have to do research to find out why they should be outraged.
It could easily be argued that the legacy of Yonge St. is far greater than any legacy of the pitiful man it was named after.
Prime minister’s name proposed for chopping block
I’m not sure the same could be said for Churchill Ave.
Yes, a street named after the man who led the free world in defeating Adolph Hitler and the Nazis is on the list of those to be renamed — no explanation given. Is there a quote or two from Churchill that people would find offensive?
Absolutely, but the same could be said of any of his contemporaries, including Gandhi, the hero of the Indian independence movement who is now considered racist and sexist.
Also on the list of street names to be reconsidered, Laurier Ave. Wilfrid Laurier, prime minister of Canada from 1896-1911, was responsible for highly racist immigration policies in Canada that — while considered abhorrent now — were supported at the time.
Laurier increased the head tax on Chinese and Japanese immigration from $50 to $500 in 1903. He brought in the policy that effectively banned immigration from the Indian subcontinent and he signed an order in council just before he lost power banning black immigration to Canada for fear that black farmers might settle on Canada’s prairies.
Brant Place and Brant St. are both on the list since they are named – as is Brantford – for Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, who was a slave owner at his estate in what is now Burlington.
Wellesley St. and Wellington St. are both named for Sir Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, the man famous for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. His actions in India and his time as prime minister of Britain during the period just before slavery was abolished would be among the reasons for removing his name.
What’s shocking in all of this, is that the first name city council chose to remove was an absolute abolitionist. This is the view put forward by three former mayors of Toronto – Art Egglton, John Sewell and David Crombie – along with historians in a just released peer reviewed article in Scotland.
The cost of removing the name Dundas from the city’s streetscape is estimated at more than $8.6 million just for the city. Imagine the cost to remove all 60 names or just the ones I’ve highlighted, it would be astronomical at a time when the city is broke and can’t provide basic services.
It’s better to tell our full history, to understand it and learn from it, than attempt to whitewash.
Streets in Toronto staff have identified as being named for slave owners:
Abbey Lane
Baby Point Crescent
Baby Point Road
Baby Point Terrace
Brant Place
Brant Street
Peter Street
Russell Hill Drive
Russell Hill Road
Russell Road
Russell Street
Jarvis Street
Full list of street names staff have identified as no longer meeting Toronto’s contemporary values:
Abbey Lane
Alexander Place
Alexander Street
Amherst Avenue
Baby Point Crescent
Baby Point Road
Baby Point Terrace
Brant Place
Brant Street
Breadalbane Street
Castle Frank Crescent
Castle Frank Road
Churchill Avenue (North York)
Churchill Avenue (Toronto)
Colony Road
Columbus Avenue
Columbus Parkette
Cornwallis Drive
Dalhousie Street
Gladstone Avenue
Indian Grove
Indian Mound Crescent
Indian Road
Indian Road Crescent
Indian Trail
Indian Valley Crescent
Jarvis Street
John Street
John Street
John Street
Kitchener Avenue
Kitchener Road
Langevin Crescent
Laurier Avenue
Macdonald Avenue
Macdonald Street
Maitland Place
Maitland Street
McGill Parkette
McGill Street
Old Colony Road
Old Yonge Street
Peter Street
Portland Street
Rhodes Avenue
Russell Hill Drive
Russell Hill Road
Russell Road
Russell Street
Ryerson Avenue
Simcoe Park
Simcoe Street
Vaughan Road
Wellesley Avenue
Wellesley Place
Wellesley Street
Wellington Street
Wood Street
Yonge Blvd
Yonge Street
Wendigo Way
theglobeandmail.com
toronto.ca
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Aug 21, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
Full list of street names city staff believes no longer reflect Toronto's values will leave many shaking their heads, writes columnist Brian Lilley.
A Dundas St. W. sign in Toronto. Full list of street names city staff believes no longer reflect Toronto's values will leave many shaking their heads, writes columnist Brian Lilley.
Are we ready to give up Yonge St. in Toronto? The most famous street in the city is on the list of streets and places that should be considered for renaming.
The same city report that pushed forward the idea of renaming Dundas St. said that there were 60 street names, including 12 named for slave owners, which “are no longer considered to be reflective of the city’s contemporary values.”
Looking at the full list, you can easily understand why some would be considered at odds with contemporary values, but others could leave you scratching your head. I asked city staff if there was a report that explained why each name was selected, and was sent general reports on renaming and the new policy on commemoration.
So, why rename Yonge St.?
It likely has to do with George Yonge’s involvement with slavery. Who is George Yonge you ask?
He’s the man Yonge Street was named after in 1794 due to his friendship with Upper Canada’s first Governor, John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe, who passed the first anti-slavery legislation in the British Empire, named the road after his friend because Yonge was an expert in the roadways and construction techniques of ancient Rome.
Six years later, though, in 1800, Yonge was named governor of the Cape Colony, a British outpost in what is now South Africa. He immediately set about ignoring rules on slavery and the slave trade that Britain imposed on its colonies.
He was in essence a slave smuggler.
Chances are most people reading this had no idea George Yonge ever existed or that this failure of an aristocrat is who Yonge St. in Toronto was named after. To be outraged, most people would have to do research to find out why they should be outraged.
It could easily be argued that the legacy of Yonge St. is far greater than any legacy of the pitiful man it was named after.
Prime minister’s name proposed for chopping block
I’m not sure the same could be said for Churchill Ave.
Yes, a street named after the man who led the free world in defeating Adolph Hitler and the Nazis is on the list of those to be renamed — no explanation given. Is there a quote or two from Churchill that people would find offensive?
Absolutely, but the same could be said of any of his contemporaries, including Gandhi, the hero of the Indian independence movement who is now considered racist and sexist.
Also on the list of street names to be reconsidered, Laurier Ave. Wilfrid Laurier, prime minister of Canada from 1896-1911, was responsible for highly racist immigration policies in Canada that — while considered abhorrent now — were supported at the time.
Laurier increased the head tax on Chinese and Japanese immigration from $50 to $500 in 1903. He brought in the policy that effectively banned immigration from the Indian subcontinent and he signed an order in council just before he lost power banning black immigration to Canada for fear that black farmers might settle on Canada’s prairies.
Brant Place and Brant St. are both on the list since they are named – as is Brantford – for Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, who was a slave owner at his estate in what is now Burlington.
Wellesley St. and Wellington St. are both named for Sir Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, the man famous for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. His actions in India and his time as prime minister of Britain during the period just before slavery was abolished would be among the reasons for removing his name.
What’s shocking in all of this, is that the first name city council chose to remove was an absolute abolitionist. This is the view put forward by three former mayors of Toronto – Art Egglton, John Sewell and David Crombie – along with historians in a just released peer reviewed article in Scotland.
The cost of removing the name Dundas from the city’s streetscape is estimated at more than $8.6 million just for the city. Imagine the cost to remove all 60 names or just the ones I’ve highlighted, it would be astronomical at a time when the city is broke and can’t provide basic services.
It’s better to tell our full history, to understand it and learn from it, than attempt to whitewash.
Streets in Toronto staff have identified as being named for slave owners:
Abbey Lane
Baby Point Crescent
Baby Point Road
Baby Point Terrace
Brant Place
Brant Street
Peter Street
Russell Hill Drive
Russell Hill Road
Russell Road
Russell Street
Jarvis Street
Full list of street names staff have identified as no longer meeting Toronto’s contemporary values:
Abbey Lane
Alexander Place
Alexander Street
Amherst Avenue
Baby Point Crescent
Baby Point Road
Baby Point Terrace
Brant Place
Brant Street
Breadalbane Street
Castle Frank Crescent
Castle Frank Road
Churchill Avenue (North York)
Churchill Avenue (Toronto)
Colony Road
Columbus Avenue
Columbus Parkette
Cornwallis Drive
Dalhousie Street
Gladstone Avenue
Indian Grove
Indian Mound Crescent
Indian Road
Indian Road Crescent
Indian Trail
Indian Valley Crescent
Jarvis Street
John Street
John Street
John Street
Kitchener Avenue
Kitchener Road
Langevin Crescent
Laurier Avenue
Macdonald Avenue
Macdonald Street
Maitland Place
Maitland Street
McGill Parkette
McGill Street
Old Colony Road
Old Yonge Street
Peter Street
Portland Street
Rhodes Avenue
Russell Hill Drive
Russell Hill Road
Russell Road
Russell Street
Ryerson Avenue
Simcoe Park
Simcoe Street
Vaughan Road
Wellesley Avenue
Wellesley Place
Wellesley Street
Wellington Street
Wood Street
Yonge Blvd
Yonge Street
Wendigo Way
Opinion: Why is Canada’s longest street named after a monument to mediocrity?
Yonge Street memorializes Sir George Yonge – a man who, outside of Canada, is best known for his incompetence, entitlement and complicity in slave smuggling, if he’s even remembered at all
theglobeandmail.com
Commemorative Framework
Commemoration is an intentional act of acknowledging the memory of people, places, events and ideas. It can include positive and honorific celebrations of the past and present, as well as acknowledgements of tragic, controversial and shameful dimensions of history and culture. Public...
toronto.ca
LILLEY: Yonge St., Wellesley, Churchill and more on city renaming list
Full list of street names city staff believes no longer reflect Toronto's values will leave many shaking their heads.
I feel ya, bruh. In Washington, they took out 13th Street and changed I street to "Eye" Street.
Plain old Lib cancellation. Next thing ya know, they'll permanently ban child molesters from running day-care centers!
Plain old Lib cancellation. Next thing ya know, they'll permanently ban child molesters from running day-care centers!
And then pass a law requiring ALL STREETS in Canada to be named after slavers!