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That student said she would like to remain anonymous and she’s not letting it get to her as she’s determined to keep pushing through all of her classes, as it is the homestretch for her and other TSU seniors.

The senior said she wants the university to do better.

“It kind of makes me feel betrayed because we're encouraged to go to school, get higher education, do what you have to do to be successful in a world,” the senior said.

“All of my classes are in person so it just makes me sad, like really sad because I give them my money every year I’m involved on our campus,” she said adding she loves TSU and will stand-up for the school but feels the school won’t do the same for her.

“If somebody ever was to talk down on TSU, I'm backing them up, but this made me not even want to do that anymore,” the senior said.

“Like because y’all left me homeless. So, what can I do for y'all now?” she said.

“Nothing, because y’all did exactly that for me – nothing.”

The TSU senior said she’s been sleeping in her car for a few days, while other students are living in hotels, to work around the overflow of student housing.

“It's kind of really scary. I don't know exactly where to park my car, you know, i just kind of winged it. And that feels very dangerous to me.”

FOX 17 News’ Payton Muse reached out to TSU by email and by phone, they said they are unaware of the student that is living in their car and asked for the student’s information so they can help

“Nashville is a high cost of living area, really. Y'all are setting us up for failure, almost,” said the senior.

Muse reached out to the university, again, to ask them about the students that still do not have their housing assignments.

The university said in an email statement that they are providing students on the housing waitlist information on housing across music city.

We also asked the university for their recruiting numbers for the past five years along with the number of how many students still are left without housing and we are waiting on those numbers.

See the university’s full response:

“While we cannot comment on an individual student's situation due to student privacy laws, please note that the timing of an individual's application for housing affects the availability of housing for that individual. We strive to assist students with their housing but may not be able to fulfill the request if they do not apply in a timely manner and pay the required fee. Individuals are then placed on a waiting list. All upperclassmen who paid a housing deposit have received room assignments, as TSU has housed over 5000 students. To further assist students on our waiting list, the University will provide them with information on housing in the Metro Nashville area."

TSU housing crisis leaves student 'homeless' and having to live in their car

New York (Knewz) — A video shows a New York City cop punching a woman in the face and her falling to the ground as she tried to stop an arrest.

Footage of the incident was shared on social media on Aug. 30 and quickly went viral. Now, it has drawn condemnation from several groups.

The footage showed the woman, identified as Tamani Crum, approaching cops from a precinct in Harlem, New York. They were trying to arrest a suspect in connection to an attempted murder case, according to the New York Post.

Crum walked toward the suspect and talked to him briefly.

Recommended video: Woman hit by detective during NYC arrest

Woman hit by detective during NYC arrest
The woman struggled with an NYPD cop off-camera as the officer, identified as Kendo Kinsye, pushed her away from the crowd, according to the Post. Crum then reached out to push or shove the cop.

Makeup Tips for SeniorsThat is when he unloaded a strong punch to Crum’s face, causing her to fall to the ground.

“Why would you do that?” officers yelled as the woman lay on the ground. Crum was then put in handcuffs and taken from the scene.

The NYPD officials told the Post that “while police were effecting the arrest multiple individuals on scene interfered by physically assaulting numerous officers. One officer sustained a minor injury to the head.”

Crum was charged with assaulting an officer and other counts. NYPD officials said the cop in the video has not been disciplined.

But others, including the National Action Network, condemned the video. Sharpton also noted that the officer has a history of using force.

“Records now public under a landmark 2020 law show Kinsey has had at least six complaints in the last 11 years, two of which have been substantiated,” the organization said, according to the Post.

NYPD Officer Punches Woman In The Face, Cuffs Her During Harlem Incident

Another day and another Black person gets shot dead while in their home while a warrant is being served. The African-American community in Ohio is still mourning the killing of Jaylon Walker, and yet another incident happens to get angry about.

20-year-old Donovan Lewis was fatally shot early Tuesday morning by a Columbus police officer attempting to serve an arrest warrant improperly handling a firearm, assault, and domestic violence, The Columbus Dispatch notes. The bodycam footage released Tuesday afternoon showed Lewis unarmed while a vape pen was next to him in his bed.

The footage shows Columbus K-9 officer Ricky Anderson and other officers going inside a second-floor apartment of a three-story building on the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue looking for Lewis. The officers had knocked on the apartment door for 8-10 minutes before someone answered. After detaining two men, the officers went to the back bedroom door of Lewis’s apartment.

From The Columbus Dispatch:

“We’re gonna send that dog in,” one of the officers warns before Anderson gives a slight push to a bedroom door off the kitchen. The door squeaks slowly open and the light from the gun of another officer shines on Lewis as one of the officers yells, “Hands!”

In less than a second, the video shows Anderson reaching into the door opening and fires a gunshot at Lewis, who appears to have raised his head from lying on his left side on the bed and is leaning on his left arm when he is hit in the abdomen and he goes face down onto the bed.

The testimony after will anger many people. As NBC 4 reports, Chief Elaine Bryant said Anderson fired his gun when Lewis appeared to raise a hand with something in it. The video showed Lewis raising his right hand toward officers while he put his left hand back toward a pillow. “There was, like, a vape pen that was found on the bed right next to him,” Bryant said.

Lewis was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he died at 3:19 a.m. Tuesday. Before then, the footage shows a wounded Lewis being carried out of the apartment with his hands cuffed behind his back. Anderson has been placed on leave as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation looks into the matter further.

“Every day, officers are put in compromising potentially life-threatening situations in which we are required to make split-second decisions,” Bryant said. “As the chief, it is my job to hold my officers accountable, but it’s also my job to offer them support.”

Nobody is disputing that the jobs are police officers are tough. However, those “split-second decisions” often leave Black people wounded or dead. Years later, we are still awaiting accountability for the death of Breonna Taylor – who was shot while she was sleeping during a botched no-knock warrant attempt. There’s no reason there should be a disposition to shoot minorities and not bring them in alive when infractions occur. Yet, these stories keep happening because there is not enough emphasis on safety during these warrant attempts.

Columbus Police Fatally Shoot Unarmed Black Man While In Bed During Arrest

The increased national attention on racial inequality following the death of George Floyd has not led to enough change in the U.S., many Black Americans believe.  

Recently published findings from a Pew Research Center survey found that 65 percent of Black Americans do not think that the spotlight on racial inequality following Floyd’s death has led to changes that have improved their lives.  

Those findings represent somewhat of a reversal of opinions among many Black Americans from September of 2020. At that time, 50 percent of Black adults who responded to a Pew survey said they believed the increased national focus on race would lead to policy changes to address racial inequality with 56 percent believing those changes would make their lives better.  

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

The new findings come from a survey of 3,912 Black Americans conducted online between Oct. 4 and 17 of last year. In the survey, people were asked how Black Americans assessed their position in society and their ideas on social change.  

Overall, respondents appeared to be clear on what they believe to be the problems facing the United States and solutions to those problems, including overhauling the criminal justice system, improving Black voter turnout, supporting Black education, and business and homeownership assistance, according to Pew researchers. But respondents were pessimistic that any meaningful changes will happen in their lifetime.  

Survey findings also show that many Black Americans are concerned about the consequences of discrimination based on race. Almost 80 percent of respondents reported personally experiencing discrimination because of their race or ethnicity while 68 percent said they think discrimination is the main reason that Black Americans cannot get ahead.

Many Black Americans disappointed in lack of progress on racial inequality following George Floyd’s death: survey

A teenager is recovering from injuries he sustained after being shot by Hancock County deputy, Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

The GBI says that Hancock County deputies were called to a stolen car being found on Shoals Road just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday night.

When deputies arrived, they found 17-year-old Montavious Lewis. It’s unclear if Lewis was suspected of stealing the car from the initial call.

They say Lewis began fighting with the deputy, and the deputy fired a single shot, hitting Lewis.

No deputies were injured.

The GBI says their independent investigation is ongoing and will pass their findings along to the Ocmulgee District Attorney’s Office

Teen shot during fight with Ga. deputy, GBI says

A Louisville, Kentucky, corrections officer has been terminated after “disparaging” the Louisville Metro Police Department and referencing the death of Breonna Taylor in a video, the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections said in a statement.


Everything you need to know about the Breonna Taylor case
The officer, Turhan Knight, was terminated August 25 after the department’s director, Jerry Collins, viewed the video and was “disgusted,” according to the statement from LMDC.

Knight had been employed by LMDC since 2018, according to the department. Before the video was known to department leadership, he gave notice in early August that he would be leaving his position, LMDC said Thursday.

Knight has since apologized, calling the video a joke.

In the video, posted on an account that was later deleted, Knight introduces himself as an officer with “Louisville Metro” and encourages viewers to join the department.

“Be a part of a great, great police department. Never mind what happened to Breonna Taylor, we killed that (bleep),” he says.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was shot and killed in her apartment during a flawed forced-entry raid in the early hours of March 13, 2020. Four current and former Louisville police officers involved have been charged with civil rights violations and other counts, Attorney General Merrick Garland said August 12.

In the video, Knight discusses the benefits of working for LMPD, like driving police vehicles and being able to provide for a family. “Do you want to kill people and be able to get off for it?” he says. “Join Louisville Metro Police Department and answer the call.”

Louisville Metro Police Department said it had no comment on the video since it is not the investigating agency and referred CNN to LMDC.

In a statement to CNN affiliate WLKY, Knight apologized to Taylor’s family and his own.

“I want to first apologize to the Mother, Boyfriend and Family of (Breonna) Taylor because I never meant to compound or further remind them of the tragedy that has taken place,” Knight said in the statement. “And I also apologize to my family, friends, the community & my church members because I knew better and I ask them to forgive me.”

“I’m in the process of retaining a lawyer, I’m just deeply remorseful and never meant anything bad or against the Breonna Taylor Family because I know the family,” Knight added. “It was a joke recorded by another officer about how I felt LMPD admin and some officers handled past situations and I regret it.”

Knight told the Courier Journal that he’d submitted his resignation before any action from the department, which LMDC confirmed in a statement Thursday. On August 8, Knight gave notice that his last day of employment would be later that month, LMDC said.

“However, once Metro Corrections became aware of the egregious nature of the video, we moved forward with termination,” the statement said.

Knight met with leadership on August 23 and was informed he was being suspended, and he failed to attend a later mandatory meeting regarding his termination paperwork, LMDC said.

CNN has attempted to reach Knight but has not received a response.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 77 believes the termination was “absolutely justified” and will not appeal it, according to a statement from its president, Daniel Johnson.

“The video was absolutely horrible and there is no place in public service for anyone that would do something so insensitive,” the statement says.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the date Knight was informed of his suspension. It was August 23.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

A Louisville corrections officer is terminated after mocking the city police department's 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor

ROME — In May 2021 Alika Ogorchukwu, a 39-year-old Nigerian living in Italy, was hit by a car while he was riding his bicycle, an accident that forced him to use a crutch to move around.

On Friday, an Italian man used the crutch to knock Mr. Ogorchukwu to the ground on a major shopping street in Civitanova Marche, a seaside town on the Adriatic Coast, before beating him to death, as a video of the assault shows and police officials confirmed. Moments earlier, Mr. Ogorchukwu, a street vendor, had unsuccessfully pitched his wares to the assailant and his girlfriend.

The brutal, senseless murder — which was videotaped by witnesses and shared thousands of times on social media — has shocked Italians, stirred political bickering ahead of national elections in September and spawned fresh debate over racism in Italy, even though, for now, investigators do not believe that the crime was racially motivated.

“Let’s condemn the fact itself and the behavior of people who stood by and watched a disabled person get killed with a crutch and filmed it,” instead of intervening, “it is shameful,” said Patrick Guobadia, the vice secretary of an association representing Nigerians in Italy.

“This indifference is frightening,” he said.

Editorials in major Italian newspapers wrote of the “dusk of civilization.” Politicians across the political spectrum denounced the crime, though concerns emerged that the murder could be used as a political sparring point in the upcoming election in which the right-wing coalition has already singled out immigration as an issue.

Rocco Pennacchio, the archbishop of nearby Fermo, said in an interview Sunday in the Catholic newspaper l’Avvenire that he hoped that all the political parties would refrain from stirring such tensions for “a handful of votes.”

Mr. Ogorchukwu was killed around 2 p.m. on Friday, shortly after he had approached the suspect, Filippo Ferlazzo, whose identity was confirmed by his lawyer, and his girlfriend to sell trinkets and beg for some change. After being rebuffed, Mr. Ogorchukwu walked away, followed almost immediately by the suspect, who assaulted him. Onlookers filmed the aggression, which lasted less than four minutes, but no one intervened.

Charity Oriachi, the wife of Mr. Ogorchukwu, at his memorial on Saturday.
Charity Oriachi, the wife of Mr. Ogorchukwu, at his memorial on Saturday.Credit...Chiara Gabrielli/Associated Press
Mr. Ogorchukwu had moved to Italy about a decade ago, to join his wife, Charity Oriachi. They lived in the inland town of San Severino Marche, about an hour’s drive from the coast. Eight years ago, their son was born, said Francesco Mantella, a lawyer who has helped the family and is representing Ms. Oriachi. “Now that she’s alone, with a son, you can imagine how hard it will be,” he added.

Mr. Ferlazzo, a 32-year-old factory worker, is being held on charges of homicide and robbery because he took Mr. Ogorchukwu’s cellphone after the episode. Matteo Luconi, the chief police investigator in Macerata overseeing the case, said in a telephone interview that an autopsy later this week would establish the cause of death. Nothing has emerged from investigations to suggest “elements of racial hatred,” he added. A statement issued by the police said the “motive for the murder” appeared to be traceable to “petty reasons.”

In addition to its violence and the bystanders, the killing touched a nerve because the Marches region, where Civitanova is, has been the scene of heinous crimes against migrants. In February 2018, an Italian right-wing sympathizer shot and wounded six African immigrants in Macerata, some 19 miles inland from Civitanova Marche, marking the city as a bastion of intolerance. Two years earlier, a Nigerian man was killed in the city of Fermo, just south of Civitanova, after he tried to defend his wife from racist slurs.

Italians have been leaving bouquets of flowers, potted plants and scribbled notes at the scene of the deadly beating. “Stop racism,” read one note.

In an email, Mr. Ferlazzo’s lawyer, Roberta Bizzarri, said her client, his girlfriend and his mother all “felt pain” because of what had transpired, adding that Mr. Ferlazzo had “overt psychiatric disorders, a recognized borderline diagnosis.” She also said that “this very sad story” was “not a case of racism.”

Fabrizio Ciarapica, the mayor of Civitanova Marche, met with Mr. Ogorchukwu’s widow on Saturday, and on Sunday, the municipal administration approved a motion to assist the family. Funds have been set aside to help pay for the funeral, and a bank account was opened for donations. “The community is always ready to extend a hand to those in need,” Mr. Ciarapica said in a statement sent on Sunday.

The mayor also pledged to “protect the image and values of Civitanova, which has always been a civilized, welcoming, generous, peaceful and supportive city and which is dismayed and grieved by an affair foreign to its character and soul.”

Mr. Guobadia, of the Nigerian association, said that an impromptu protest had been held Saturday by Nigerians living in the area but that a bigger demonstration was in the works for next weekend. “What happened could be called an act of underlying racism, or indifference, I can’t say,” he said. “But in any case, it is shameful.”

Speaking to the Italian Sky News channel, Ms. Oriachi was distraught. “The pain is too much for me, I need justice,” she said. “I need justice.”

A Nigerian Street Vendor Is Beaten to Death in Italy as Witnesses Stand By

INDIANAPOLIS – The victims of a mass shooting were identified Monday, a day after a gunman opened fire inside an Indiana shopping mall before being fatally shot by an armed bystander.

The shooter, identified as Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood, Indiana, killed three people and injured two in the food court at the Greenwood Park Mall on Sunday before closing time, police said.

Emergency responders wait outside after a shooting Sunday, July 17, 2022 at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, 14 miles south of Indianapolis.

Emergency responders wait outside after a shooting Sunday, July 17, 2022 at Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, 14 miles south of Indianapolis.
He was killed by Elisjsha Dicken, 22, of Seymour, Indiana, a mall patron who was legally carrying a gun, according to authorities.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

"The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop the shooter almost as soon as he began," Greenwood Police Chief Jim Ison said.

Authorities received the first emergency calls at 6:05 p.m. from the mall in Greenwood, a city with a population of 60,000 14 miles south of Indianapolis.

Here’s what we know about the Greenwood Park Mall shooting:

Gunman kills 3 in Indiana mall before being fatally shot by armed bystander: What we know

Outrage has spread after a viral video showed a costumed performer at Sesame Place visibly dismiss two 6-year-old Black girls on Saturday. Now, the family is calling on the theme park to fire the employee.

In the video, posted to Instagram by Jodi Brown, "Sesame Street" character Rosita is shown high-fiving a white child and woman – but then gesturing “no” and walking away from Brown's daughter and niece, who had their arms stretched out for a hug and high-five during the parade at Sesame Place in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia.

"THIS DISGUSTING person blatantly told our kids NO then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us! Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I'm crazy," Brown wrote in her post Saturday. “I will never step foot in @sesameplace ever again."

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

In a news conference Wednesday near Sesame Workshop, the New York nonprofit behind “Sesame Street," the family's legal team called for the immediate firing of the employee who dismissed the two girls.

This week: Sesame Place park apologies after Rosita character appeared to dismiss two Black girls  

"Today is a day of accountability," the family's lawyer, Houston-based trial attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, said to reporters. "What has taken place at Sesame Place this past Saturday, and the months and years prior, is utterly disgusting and unacceptable."

LaMarr's law office confirmed to USA TODAY early Thursday that LaMarr had communicated with the counsel for Sesame Place but that no lawsuit had been filed yet. Updates were expected in the coming days.

"All options are on the table," LaMarr said Wednesday. "The last thing we want to do is file a lawsuit. ... This is not about money, but they do need to take responsibility and make sure these girls get the adequate care that they deserve.”

View this post on Instagram

For now, the family's attorney said Wednesday, the family is calling on Sesame Place to fire the employee, take care of the health and mental health expenses for the two girls after the incident, and issue a "genuine and authentic" apology – not a "watered-down" explanation.

In an initial statement shared on social media Sunday, Sesame Place said that the park and its employees stand for “inclusivity and equality in all forms" and that the "costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests."

Sesame Place added: "The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated by the misunderstanding."

In California: What Sesame Place San Diego aims to do differently with autistic guests in mind  

Still, many expressed outrage online, and some called for a boycott of the amusement park. On Monday, the park issued a second statement, apologizing again and promising that it was “taking action to do better." That action would include inclusivity training for employees, the park said.

“We reject any notion that the performer’s actions this past Saturday was anything short of intentional. I know our Black girls are magic, but I didn’t know that they were invisible. We are tired of your excuses, we are tired of justifications," LaMarr said Wednesday in response to Sesame Place's statements. "We will not tolerate racism in this country. ... We most definitely will not tolerate it in our theme parks directed at our children."

Brown and activist Tamika Mallory, co-founder of social justice organization Until Freedom, who also joined Wednesday's news conference, strongly criticized Sesame Street's apologies for not taking further responsibility.

“I feel like the apologies were not genuine,” Brown, who was at the news conference with her niece Nylah, added on Wednesday. “Me, my niece and my daughter have all suffered ... discriminatory behavior which we should not have to endure in these days and times.”

What's everyone talking about?: Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day  

Mallory said Sesame Place's statements showed "gaslighting and complete disrespect." She also called on SeaWorld, who owns and operates the Sesame Place theme park, to speak up and take action.

USA TODAY reached out to SeaWorld for additional comments on Thursday. 

In addition to what the Brown family experienced on Saturday, LaMarr said, his office – as well as Mallory's office and the office of civil rights lawyer Ben Crump – has since received numerous reports from families who say they have experienced similar, racist incidents at the theme park over the years from various costumed characters.

"We’ve come to learn that what took place Saturday is not an anomaly, but what we’ve seen is business as usual – to deny, to defend and to delay accountability," LaMarr said.

In a statement sent to USA TODAY Thursday evening, Sesame Place wrote that, "We sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize to the Brown family for what they experienced. To be very clear, what the two young girls experienced, what the family experienced, is unacceptable. It happened in our park, with our team, and we own that. It is our responsibility to make this better for the children and the family and to be better for all families."

Sesame Place also said that it had been in contact with the Brown family through LaMarr, and had offered to meet in person. Sesame Place maintained that the park was "taking action and are reviewing our practices to identify necessary changes" – including the mandatory training for all employees. The statement did not address the family's call for the Rosita performer's firing.

Contributing: The Associated Press

The day in pictures

1 of 44 Photos in Gallery©DANIEL LEAL, AFP via Getty Images

July 20, 2022: Burqa-clad woman carry logs of wood near the Qale'H-Ye-Balahissar fortress in Kabul.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Family calls for Sesame Place to fire Rosita performer, accuses theme park of racism

Family calls for Sesame Place to fire Rosita performer, accuses theme park of racism

COVID Case Numbers And Hospitalizations Continue to Increase

U.S. COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising again to the highest seen this summer so far, as the BA.5 omicron subvariant becomes dominant. BA.5 is understood to be the most transmissible variant seen so far and to have an ability to break through vaccination and cause reinfection. BA.5 accounted for more than 53% of global cases sequenced in the week through July 10, according to the World Health Organization, and the U.S. had the highest number of new cases, including in President Joe Biden. The daily average for new U.S. cases stood at 128,513 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 19% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations rose to 42,449, up 18% in two weeks. The daily average for deaths is up 34% to 437. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 567.9 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.38 million with the U.S. leading the world with 90.2 million cases and 1,026,294 deaths.

Coronavirus tally: U.S.COVID cases and hospitalizations are climbing as BA.5 takes hold

During the course of its landmark summer of hearings, the House select committee investigating the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol has sought to show that Donald Trump was at the center of a multi-layer conspiracy to seize a second term in office, accusing him of having “summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack”.

Then, for 187 minutes on 6 January, the president let the firestorm he ignited burn, the panel argued in a gripping capstone presentation on Thursday.

In its final midsummer hearing, one of its most dramatic of the series of eight, the panel argued that Trump betrayed his oath of office and was derelict in his duty when he refused to condemn the violence as rioters carrying poles, bear spray and the banners of his campaign, led a bloody assault on the US Capitol.

Related: House panel says Trump ‘chose not to act’ during attack on US Capitol

The primetime session recounted in harrowing, minute-by-minute detail the siege of the Capitol, while simultaneously laying out the actions Trump did – but mostly deliberately did not – take during those excruciating hours when “lives and our democracy hung in the balance,” as Congresswoman Elaine Luria, a Democrat of Virginia and a member of the committee, described it on Thursday.

Amid the chaos at the Capitol, Trump was idle in the White House, watching it all unfold on a television tuned to Fox News. Even 24 hours later, Trump refused to say the election was over.

Trump’s abdication of leadership on 6 January was a “stain on our history”, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois and a committee member, said Thursday.

But were his actions illegal? It’s a question at the heart of the committee’s yearlong inquiry.

Over the course of the public hearings, the panel has sought to lay out the case that Trump orchestrated a multilayered plot to seize another term in office despite being told repeatedly and in no uncertain terms that his myth of a stolen election was baseless.

Culling from hundreds of thousands of documents and hundreds of interviews, the committee showed that Trump, having been turned back by the courts at every level, became increasingly desperate in his bid to overturn the results of an election his own attorney general deemed free and fair.

The panel has sought to offer a full public accounting of the events of 6 January for the American people and for the historical record.

Its work, however, is not done.

The vice-chair, Liz Cheney, a Republican of Wyoming, said that the committee will spend August “pursuing and merging information”, which continues to come in, before reconvening for more hearings in September.

While the committee originally set a September deadline for releasing a final report on their investigation, lawmakers now say it will only release a preliminary report by then, and a full report by the end of the year. The committee must release a full report before it disbands, which it is set to do with the start of a new Congress in early January.

The committee’s report is already getting treatment similar to other major investigations such as Watergate and 9/11. Multiple publishers, including Hachette and MacMillan, have books coming out in September related to the committee’s findings.

But already, the committee has presented evidence that lawmakers and aides have suggested could be used as a foundation for bringing a criminal case against the former president. Among the possible charges that have been discussed are conspiracy to defraud the American people and obstructing an official proceeding of Congress. The committee has also raised the prospect of witness tampering, announcing at its last hearing that Trump had attempted to contact a witness cooperating with its investigation.

“The facts are clear and unambiguous,” Thompson said on Thursday.

The Justice Department is pursuing a separate investigation into the breach of the Capitol.

A federal judge has said Trump “more likely than not” committed federal crimes in his efforts to delay or disrupt the congressional count of electoral college votes on January 6.

But legal experts are divided over whether the evidence shown during the hearings is enough to charge Trump. No former president has ever been prosecuted by the justice department. And in this era of polarization, there are risks that both charging Trump – or declining to do so – could further undermine Americans faith in their system of justice.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, under immense pressure by Democrats to act, has not said whether he is considering a case against Trump.

“No person is above the law in this country,” he said Wednesday. “I can’t say it any more clearly than that.”

Trump has dismissed the panel’s inquiry as politically motivated and a witch hunt.

Perhaps the panel’s most urgent work is to show Americans that the “forces Donald Trump ignited that day have not gone away”, Kinzinger said. “The militant, intolerant ideologies. The militias. The alienation and the disaffection. The weird fantasies and disinformation. They’re all still out there, ready to go.”

Millions of voters still believe the conspiracy that Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. It has galvanized a new wave of Republican candidates, who openly embrace the lie that the 2020 election was illegitimate. Many are now their party’s nominee for critical positions such as governor and secretary of state.

Trump was impeached for actions on 6 January, but the Senate acquitted and never attempted to bar him from holding future public office. Cheney suggested Thursday that if what was known now about Trump’s role in the tangled, brazen plot to keep him in office, the Senate may have voted differently. But the opportunity for political accountability is not presently available – Trump is out of office, for now.

That is why many, including members of the committee, believe Trump must face consequences for his actions.

“If there’s no accountability for January 6, for every part of this scheme, I fear we will not overcome the ongoing threat to our democracy,” Thompson warned. “There must be stiff consequences for those responsible.”

• This article was amended on 22 July 2022. Liz Cheney is a Republican member for Wyoming, not Wisconsin as an earlier version said.

House panel showed Trump conspired to seize the election – but was it illegal?

Less than two weeks before the second anniversary of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the specter of racial hatred and violence once again reared its ugly head when a teenage gunman – entranced by a white supremacist ideology known as replacement theory – systematically murdered 10 people at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y. Then, just last week, in Akron, Ohio, another tragedy: a young, unarmed black man died in a hail of bullets, fired by police after a routine traffic stop. The shooting, which involved eight police officers, has sparked protests and a state-of-emergency declaration by the mayor of Akron, who instituted a city-wide curfew.

Floyd’s murder, the racist massacre in Buffalo, and this latest police killing in Akron are reminders that we are living through one of the most turbulent periods in American history since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Yet, for all the protests and calls for racial equity, the demands to stop white supremacists, and the promises from lawmakers to advance justice and equality, much more work is needed to extinguish the flames of racism that have engulfed our nation since its birth.

Instead of public denunciations of racial hatred and promises of change, Black Americans need concrete actions today that show that their lives matter and that measurable commitments toward their safety and well-being are finally being acted on.

From Minneapolis and Buffalo to Atlanta and Ferguson, many Black communities are not discernibly better off, despite the outpourings of support after violent tragedies. There are many reasons for this disconnect, ranging from political dysfunction to shifting cultural zeitgeist, and often a lack of communication and trust between those who have resources to help, and those who need it. This is why my firm Vista Equity Partners joined with PayPal and Boston Consulting Group last year to form the Southern Communities Initiative (SCI), a consortium of local organizations in communities of color in the South, where almost  60 percent of all Black Americans live, that aims to make it easier for corporations and philanthropists to deploy resources quickly, effectively, and transparently, to drive growth and opportunity for all Americans.

As MLK Jr reminded us, in order to dismantle racial hatred and injustices like we saw in Buffalo, we must also dismantle economic, educational, technological, and other injustices that have been heaped on the Black community. Famed musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron said, “Color is not the issue in America, class is.”

Removing Burdens

In just over a year since its launch, SCI has already made significant progress in helping channel the $100 billion in racial equity commitments companies and philanthropic organizations made following the death of George Floyd. We’ve partnered with Education SuperHighway to pilot Bridge to Broadband and assess the block-level broadband needs and solutions in Birmingham, Charlotte, and NOLA that impact 3 million households. A $500 million economic opportunity fund was started to support Black and underrepresented minority businesses through Community Financial Development Institutions (CDFI) and Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), minority-led VC funds, and supplier diversity efforts. And the SCI is working hand in hand with local community organizations to help them better access the $10 billion in federal funding available.

While these are just a few examples of what this collaborative effort has been able to accomplish in a single year, far more progress is required. It will take a much greater effort on the part of all of society to quiet deeply entrenched acrimony and violence that led to the brutality we witnessed in Minneapolis, Buffalo, and Akron. Business leaders have enormous power to drive this change.

The Bottom Line

For example, the Student Freedom Initiative – a nonprofit centered around removing the burdens of student loan debt at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) – needs funding help to ensure that tomorrow’s Black leaders pick up the mantle and continue the fight for equality. Corporations can also pledge to commit to supplier diversity by increasing MBE spending or helping to fund low-cost, high-speed internet to communities of color and expand healthcare coverage. In Texas – the country’s second most populous state – alone there are more than nine million people who lack a reliable high-speed connection and more than 21 percent of Black residents in Houston lack even the most basic form of health insurance coverage.

Fulfilling all these goals will not stop a white supremacist from wantonly killing innocent people or prevent a police officer from choking or shooting a man to death. But by working together with urgency, corporations can help level the field for African Americans economically, educationally, and otherwise. Doing so will benefit our entire country. It may seem like a daunting task, but – to quote Gil Scott-Heron again – “nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something, everyone must play a part.”

OP-ED: Racist Massacre In New York Reminds Us Much More Is Needed On Racial Equity

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