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'Racist trash': Dem lawmaker spits fire at Republicans on House floor for opposing DC statehood
April 22, 2021
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) on Thursday said that Republican arguments against statehood for the District of Columbia are "racist trash."
Jones made the remarks during a debate about D.C. statehood on the U.S. House floor.
"I have had enough of my colleagues racist insinuations that somehow the people of Washington, D.C. are incapable or even unworthy of our democracy," Jones began. "One Senate Republican said that D.C. wouldn't be a -- quote -- well-rounded, working-class state. I had no idea there were so many syllables in the word 'white.'"
He continued: "One of my House Republican colleagues said that D.C. shouldn't be a state because the District doesn't have a landfill! My goodness, with all the racist trash my colleagues have brought to this debate, I can see why they're worried about having a place to put it."
At that point, Republican lawmakers erupted with anger and demanded that Jones's words be retracted. But the chair ruled that Jones could continue.
"The truth is that there is no good faith argument for disenfranchising," Jones said before he was interrupted again.
"Do your job, read the rules!" Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) shouted.
Jones eventually relented and allowed his words to be withdrawn from the record.
"These desperate objections are about fear," Jones explained, "fear that in D.C. their white supremacist politics will no longer play, fear that soon enough white supremacist politics won't work anywhere in America, fear that if they don't rig our Democracy, they will not win."
A spokesperson for Jones later told Forbes that he "stands by what he said" but agreed to withdraw the remarks to avoid an unnecessary vote.
Watch the video below from C-SPAN.
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A Bangladeshi immigrant was sentenced to life in a US prison Thursday for a botched attempt to unleash carnage with a bomb attack in a crowded New York subway passage in the name of the Islamic State group.
Akayed Ullah wounded himself and three other people in the December 11, 2017 blast in a tunnel below the Port Authority bus terminal near Times Square.
The bomb, which he strapped to his body with zip wires, failed to detonate as planned, and Ullah was left with burns to his torso and hands. His victims suffered minor complaints such as ringing in their ears and headaches.
The explosion sowed panic and disrupted the Monday morning commute during the busy Christmas tourism season, six weeks after a truck driver, also reportedly inspired by IS, killed eight people on a bike path.
Ullah, who migrated to the United States in 2011, was found guilty on all six counts by a Manhattan jury on November 6, 2018.
The 31-year-old's convictions include supporting a foreign terrorist organization, using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a public place.
Judge Richard Sullivan said that although Ullah "ultimately failed" in the execution of the attack, it didn't make him "less culpable."
"Your conduct was truly heinous. This is about as bad a crime as there is," he said, handing down the life sentence.
Ullah's defense counsel had called for the mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years.
Ullah said what he had done was "wrong."
"I can tell you from the bottom of my heart I am deeply sorry for what I did," he told the sentencing hearing.
Ullah was caught on CCTV walking through the subway terminal and detonating the bomb strapped to his body. After his arrest, he allegedly told authorities: "I did it for the Islamic State."
Ullah, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, built the bomb in his apartment, packing the device with metal screws and Christmas tree lights, having planned the attack for several weeks.
On the morning of the bombing, Ullah posted a statement on Facebook referring to the US president saying: "Trump you failed to protect your nation."
A chilling handwritten note saying "O America die in your rage" was found, along with metal pipes, wires and screws in his home, prosecutors said.
Ullah began to radicalize in 2014, three years after moving to the United States, by watching IS propaganda online before starting to research how to make bombs a year ago, officials said.
Prosecutors said he opposed US government policies in the Middle East and wanted to terrorize as many people as possible, deliberately choosing a week day when the area would be most crowded.
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Ohio school employee leaves shockingly racist message for single mom after daughter missed online lesson
April 22, 2021
Like many parents, Heather Belanger has faced new challenges in juggling work and family responsibilities during the pandemic -- but not everyone hears shockingly racist threats from their child's school.
Belanger, a northeastern Ohio parent, received a voicemail March 18 from an employee of Paul C. Bunn Elementary, where her daughter is taking online classes, using racist language and threatening to call children's services because the girl had not logged into her lessons, reported WKBN-TV.
"I'm going to expect you to answer and talk to me like you have some sense and not have some ignorant person answer your phone," said the employee, who has been placed on paid leave during an investigation. "I'm going to call you back in about five minutes, and I'm going to need you to pull it together and not have somebody else answer your phone, acting ignorant and, excuse my language, but n*ggerish. So you're going to pull it together and answer the phone and have a little bit better sense and respectfulness."
Belanger, who is white, said she's had previous disagreements with that same woman over her daughter's attendance.
"That's after numerous calls I've taken from her before of her threatening me that she was going to pull up on me," Belanger said.
Belanger said she's had difficulty managing her daughter's school responsibilities due to her own work schedule.
"The thing is my daughter, when I am working, has to be at the day care or with a babysitter, and I cannot control when she logs on," Belanger said.
Belanger said she's tried to hold her daughter accountable, but she's stretched too thin.
"Took away the phone, took away the tablets -- I cut screen time," she said. "She was on punishment for over a month, but there was only so much I could do because I have to go to work."
Belanger said the same employee made her daughter feel uncomfortable when the child went into school for state testing, so she contacted the school district, which offered to set up a mediation session.
"To speak about a child or family or anything, I don't think is appropriate whatsoever," Belanger said.
Mom says message from Youngstown Schools employee contained threats, racial slur
An employee for Youngstown City Schools is on paid leave. District officials are looking into a derogatory voicemail a parent says she received.
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