A car barreled through a police barricade Sunday evening and into a crowd of Seattle, Washington protesters, the driver then flashed his gun and appears to have shot a man.
"He exited his car and flashed a gun. The police say they have the man in custody and have the gun," said Chase Burns, who filmed the incident. "They asked for anybody who is hurt to come to the barricade. A man was on the ground on 11th and Pine. He’s up now."
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In the video, the man can be seen running up to the car and trying to stop the driver from hitting anyone then falls over. A white man in a black hoodie and ball cap gets out of the car and waves the gun around.
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"I catch him and I punch him in the face...My whole thing was to protect those people down there," the victim of Seattle protest shooting said.
"A young man shot on 11th and Pine, Daniel, 26, wanted to tell his story. With the help of other medics, I got a tourniquet on his arm. Street medics were on the spot with gauze and pressure. He walked off the scene," tweeted Alex Garland.
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Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene and gave information about the man's condition.
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SPD reported that the shooter was apprehended.
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The story is still developing and Raw Story will bring you information as it becomes available...
A peaceful protest of Black Lives Matter activists erupted into chaos when a white North Carolina man whipped out a weapon.
Twenty-five-year-old Harold Walker pulled a gun on two other white men during peaceful protests in Reidsville, North Carolina Monday night, reported RockinghamNow.
"It remains unclear if the incident that took place at around 9:30 p.m. was related to the protest in which demonstrators asked for fair treatment of minorities by police," the report said.
Either way, police were quick to arrest Walker and charge him with carrying a concealed weapon.
There were about 100 protesters gathered to speak out against police brutality, but several hours into the gathering was when Walker pulled out his gun and pointed it toward men standing near a parked car by the police department's main entrance.
"Protesters scattered, screaming and seeking cover across the street," the report said.
There were men in diesel trucks trying to intimidate protesters by taking turns stopping near the protest site and slamming on their accelerators to create dark smoke blowing in the face of the protesters.
In an interview with MSNBC's Molly Hunter, a Black Londoner explained why he turned out for a protest near Trafalgar Square in support of Americans who have hit the streets in the U.S. over the murder of George Floyd by four former Minneapolis police officers.
According to the man -- identified as Daniel and who was wearing a COVID-19 mask and a New York Yankees hat -- his brother was also murdered by police and the cops walked free.
"You've been marching all day," Hunter began. "Look, I have two questions for you: what was it like watching the U.S. this week from London? Does it resonate?
"It resonates," he replied. "400 years we've been having to deal with this and we're still being lynched and murdered today."
"My brother was shot and killed by the police in this country," he recalled. " He was shot four times in his back and the policemen's evidence when he stood up in court was that my brother was facing him -- the courts accepted that evidence."
"The autopsy shows he has four shots in the back, how can the evidence be accepted?" he continued. "The rules and regulations for England and America are not different -- they are exactly the same."
"Why is it important to be out here today, why is it important to march in the streets of London, to march past the prime minister's residence? What is the message here?" the MSNBC correspondent asked.
"To highlight this injustice cannot continue," he exclaimed. "I believe that this is -- this is a different assault, this is a different murder and we can see the protests going on around the world. We have just had enough. Everybody has had enough of these live lynchings. Look at the CNN reporter that got arrested, live on television, where everybody saw exactly what happened."
"The police went away, they came on television and reported what happened," he continued. "Even with the evidence live on television, the police came with a story that clearly did not match the evidence and they're doing this live on television. They do not care, they have the power of the system behind them and they can lie, lie on television, and it doesn't matter."
If anything, Ahmaud Arbery’s death in Georgia on Feb. 23 was predictable: the latest tragic example of the fatal consequences that can occur when private citizens seek to take the law into their own hands.
So-called “citizen’s arrest” laws, which allow private individuals to apprehend an alleged wrongdoer, have been around for centuries. Such laws protect people from civil or criminal liability in the event they “arrest” someone.
In theory, that makes sense. Public safety is everyone’s responsibility, after all. In practice, however, citizen’s arrest doctrines have set the stage for tragic, unnecessary and avoidable confrontations and deaths.
Modern citizen’s arrest rules can be traced back to 1285, when England’s Statute of Winchester directed that citizens “not spare any nor conceal any felonies” and commanded that citizens bring “fresh suit” – prosecute – whenever they see “robberies and felonies committed.”
Back then, there was no “law enforcement” as we understand it today – no cops, no prosecutors. It was largely left to private citizens to apprehend and prosecute felons.
Prior to the development of professionalized police agencies in the mid- to late-1800s, there was no particular legal distinction between arrests made by private citizens and those made by public officials.
In English cities and larger towns, able-bodied men were expected to take generally unpaid shifts patrolling as night watchmen. Watchmen were often conscripted, and citizens of means could hire someone to serve on their behalf, resulting in a dubious dedication to duty.
This practice extended beyond England to its colonies. An account published in the New York Gazette in the mid-18th century described night watchmen as “a parcel of idle, drinking, vigilant Snorers, who never quelled any nocturnal Tumult in their Lives.”
Most states have “shopkeeper’s privilege” laws that provide a defense for business owners and employees who arrest someone for theft so long as they have probable cause. Resisting such an arrest is a crime in some states. Private security guards, similarly, may be authorized to make arrests, at least on the property they are hired to protect. And when bounty hunters capture someone who has jumped bail, the Supreme Court has said the arrest “is likened to the rearrest by the sheriff of an escaping prisoner.”
Those who are not a shopkeeper, security guard or bounty hunter may still be able to effect an arrest under more generic citizen’s arrest rules.
In many states, for example, an officer can make arrests for offenses classified as misdemeanors – minor crimes typically punishable by up to a year in jail – but a private citizen cannot. In other states, including Georgia, a private citizen may make an arrest only if they witness or have firsthand knowledge of an offense. And in some states, an individual may only be able to invoke “citizen’s arrest” as a defense to civil or criminal liability if the person they arrested actually committed an offense, while officers are protected if they had probable cause.
But in some ways, private actors have even more leeway to make arrests and use force than law officers because the constitutional rules that regulate searches, seizures, and interrogations do not apply when “a private party … commits the offending act.”
Citizens may have more authority to use force than law officers, too, depending on state law.
In South Carolina, a citizen can use deadly force to effect the nighttime arrest of someone who has US$1 of stolen property in their possession or who “flees when he is hailed” if the circumstances “raise just suspicion of his design to steal.”
If an officer in South Carolina did the same, he would likely run afoul of state law or the Fourth Amendment, which the Supreme Court has held requires probable cause “that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury.”
Race and status
No one knows how many citizen’s arrests occur in the U.S. every year because the police are usually called and an officer processes the arrest, leaving little evidence of private involvement.
Gregory and Travis McMichael say they chased Arbery because they believed he was behind neighborhood burglaries. Arbery, of course, had committed no crime. He was just jogging.
And even if he had committed a burglary, the death would have still been the result of an unjustified act of vigilantism. As the Supreme Court has said, “It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape.” Remembering that as the U.S. considers reforming citizen’s arrest statutes may go a long way in preventing any further unnecessary deaths.
According to the U.S. Army vet who is now a Tillman scholar at George Washington University, protesters who adorn themselves in military-style garb while carrying high-powered weapons to protest stay-at-home orders designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is a personal affront to those who have actually served.
Saying the protestors are wearing an amalgam of military styles not specific to any American service branch, Garza referred to it as the "Uniform" to make his point.
"I took comfort in my Army uniform. Not a physical comfort, because that certainly was never synonymous with Army-issue items, but a comfort of familiarity. I suffered in that gear, and it became a part of me. Some veterans can’t wait to take off their uniform, but I didn’t want to live without mine," he wrote. "'The Uniform' is my term for the look some protesters have adopted in recent years. It is not a specific military uniform but often a mix of non-government-issue, third-party combat gear. There are usually lots of accessories and pouches; patches of varying political rancor; and flags that are rarely red, white and blue."
Writing "To my eye, the overall look is a caricature of a Special Operations warfighter, like those in video games," he added, "The Uniform has become a fixture in political storms and crises. People in these outfits show up to political events, where they scream and scowl. They demand freedom as they wield assault rifles. They reject criticism as un-American. Some carry flags that are un-American. In a country where minorities are killed for mistaken perceptions, they protest in a protective ether of unrecognized privilege."
Explaining his "discomfort" with protesters wearing tactical gear he continued, "Those wearing it are attempting to make their appearance speak for them, sometimes without the service that normally gives power to that voice. Over our nation’s history, the sacrifice and commitment of military service have made it a source of integrity and wisdom."
"Millions of Americans have stood in uniform and watched innocent people suffer. Sometimes we could help; sometimes we were helpless. Some of us wore the same gear for weeks straight with no showers or laundry. We know the permanent coloring inflicted by months of billowing dust and sand. Uniforms get dirty — covered in hydraulic oil, mud, blood. Still, we wear them as we serve," he elaborated before stating, "Citizens have every right to be angry at government responses that are unclear, insufficient or unwarranted. Citizens have every right to protest — to speak from their personal pain. They don’t need gear to speak for them."
"When I see the Uniform engaged in protest, I understand that it is intended to convey a message," he added before concluding, "But this appearance, reappropriated in anger, rings hollow."
Liberal activist Michael Moore is concerned that his fellow progressives are being scared off by President Donald Trump and his friends with guns.
Speaking to Bill Maher on Friday, Moore said that from the very beginning, Trump tried to scare people by encouraging his Second Amendment friends to prepare to fight back with their semiautomatic weapons if he loses the election. Now they're back.
"This time he's already got his gun guys. The guys with the guns. You saw this in Michigan," said Moore. "Showing up at the capitol for the last couple of weeks with their long arms and threatening everybody to the point where the governor, last Tuesday, just shut the legislature down. She was so afraid. I want to appeal to people to not be afraid of these guys with the guns. I went to high school with them. I know. They want to kill Bambi. That's their idea of a real fight. Them and a deer. If the deer were ever armed -- if it was a fair fight, these guys would never be in the woods."
He went on to say that all they're trying to do is scare liberals with their guns and these "liberate" protests.
"He's just trying to scare liberals because liberals get scared easy," said Moore. "Don't be scared. We are the majority. There are more of us than there are of them. The only way that they're going to pull it off is somehow he's able to cancel the election."
Moore said that not only is Trump trying to fight the election with his crusade against vote-by-mail, but he's also going after the U.S. Post Office for the same reason.
Watch the full conversation between Maher and Moore below:
President Donald Trump's appointee to the lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was stalled Tuesday as conservatives expressed concern over his position on guns, Politico reported.
Chuck Canterbury, the former president of the Fraternal Order of Police was nominated last year but his appointment was held up by Republicans. Trump has complained that it was Democrats who held up nominations in the Senate.
“I don't personally support any more restrictions than are currently in the law,” said Canterbury when speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) demanded to know why the FOP supported an expansion of laws mandating background checks. Canterbury said that it was something that the FOP members wanted and it was his job to uphold what the members wanted. An overwhelming majority of Americans agree with expanded background checks, but the gun lobby opposes it.
During a panel discussion on MSNBC on Sunday afternoon, radio personality and commentator Charlamagne tha God briefly stunned host Alex Witt by first saying he wished shooting victim Ahmaud Arbery had been armed to defend himself before being gunned down by two white Georgia men -- then advised African-Americans to legally purchase a weapon so they don't meet the same fate.
With the Rev. Al Sharpton also on the panel, Lenard Larry McKelvey, who goes by the Charlamagne professional name, was blunt in his assessment of the two men-- since arrested -- who were filmed killing Aubery which led to their arrest two months after the incident.
"My thoughts are rest in peace and condolences to his family," Charlamagne began. "I wish that brother had a gun on him while he was jogging to defend himself against those thugs, those goons, those terrorists. I call them 'Vanilla ISIS.' They hunted him down like he was a deer."
"I would tell my brothers and sisters to go buy yourself a legal firearm and learn how to use it to protect yourself and your family," he continued. "I think, when you are a black person in America, owning a legal firearm is a form of self-care. I wish he had a gun on him while jogging. I would much rather see him in prison fighting for his freedom as opposed to being in a casket right now."
"Could I ask you, since these two, they've been charged with murder, we don't know if they'll be anybody else who will be brought into the charges, this father and son," Witt replied. "The legal system, the reverend talked about what changes he like to see in the legal system. Talk about that, because while I can understand the emotions behind what you said about what you wish people would do within the black community, I'm sure you also understand that the prospect of everybody going out there and using guns to make their points or defend themselves or attack, that may not turn out well in the big picture."
"Well, that is not what I said," he explained. "I didn't say people should use their guns and go out there and attack. I said people should own legal firearms to defend against these kind of attacks. that is what i said."
"Now as far as the justice system, I don't have in faith in the justice system," he continued. "I see plenty of white people get off for killing unarmed black men in this country so I don't have any faith in the legal system so therefore that is what I'm telling all of my brothers and sisters to buy yourself a legal firearm and learn how to use it to protect yourself against these kind of threats. Second Amendment -- the Constitution is for all of us, right?"
Georgia authorities on Thursday arrested a father and son, days after a video that appears to show the shooting of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery surfaced on line. Now, the individual who filmed the incident is also under investigation.
Former police officer Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with murder and aggravated assault in the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said Thursday. The shooting took place on Feb. 23, the GBI said, but District Attorney Tom Durden did not formally request an investigation until after the video was released May 5. Both men were arrested days later.
Gregory McMichael retired last year after spending years as an investigator for the district attorney's office.
"Please understand that although there was an investigation conducted by the Glynn County Police Department at the time of the incident over two months ago, the GBI was not a part of that investigation," the agency said in a statement. "We are conducting an independent investigation and are two days into it."
GBI Director Vic Reynolds said Friday that the video was a key piece of evidence in the case. Reynolds added that William "Roddie" Bryan, a neighbor of Travis McMichael who filmed the killing, was also under investigation by the agency after Arbery's family called for his arrest.
Bryan followed the two men in "hot pursuit of Arbery," according to a memo obtained by USA Today. It is unclear how he became involved in the chase. Bryan was listed in the initial police report as a "witness."
The video recorded by Bryan was later released by criminal defense attorney Alan Tucker, who said he made it public in the interest of "absolute transparency."
"We are going to go wherever the evidence takes us," Reynolds said. "In a perfect world, we would have preferred to have been asked to become involved in February, of course."
Arbery was killed in Satilla Shores, while jogging about two miles from his home in Brunswick, Ga. Gregory McMichael told police that he believed Arbery was a burglary suspect, so he and his son pursued him with their firearms. The men alleged that Arbery attacked them after Travis McMichael exited their vehicle with a shotgun.
The police report described Gregory McMichael as a "witness" and Arbery as a "suspect."
The Glynn County Police Department revealed Thursday that it had no reports of any burglaries in the area between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23.
The video shows Arbery running before encountering the McMichaels' truck. Arbery ran around the truck before getting into a physical altercation with Travis McMichael. Three shotgun blasts ring out, and Arbery falls to the ground.
The video raised questions about the handling of the case. Documents obtained by The New York Times showed that prosecutor George Barnhill recused himself from the case after telling police there was "insufficient probable cause" to arrest the McMichaels. He argued that the two men were legally armed and cited the state's citizen's arrest and self-defense statutes.
Barnhill argued that Arbery, who is said to have been unarmed, started the physical altercation, and therefore McMichael was "allowed to use deadly force to protect himself."
Arbery family attorney S. Lee Merritt said Wander Cooper, the victim's mother, was "very relieved" following Thursday's arrest.
"She remained very stoic as she has during this entire process," he told The Times. "I believe that she is holding out for a conviction for these men."
Akeem Baker, Arbery's longtime friend, added that he felt an "ounce of joy" following the arrests.
"But I'm still uneasy," he said. "It's a small win, you know, but I feel like we still got to continue to push forward to get justice. To make sure everybody involved are held accountable."
The arrests came after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concern about the handling of the case.
"Georgians deserve answers," Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said.
Kemp's former Democratic rival, Stacey Abrams, said that "our systems of law enforcement and justice must be held to the highest standards" and called for a "full investigation, appropriate charges and an unbiased prosecution."
Former Vice President Joe Biden called the shooting a "grave injustice" during a virtual roundtable Thursday with black lawmakers in Florida.
"This family and the country deserves justice, and they deserve it now. They deserve a transparent investigation of this brutal murder," he said. "But our nation deserves it, as well. We need to reckon with this. This goes on. These vicious acts call to mind the darkest chapters of our history."
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that the shooting was "very disturbing."
"So I saw the tape, and it's very, very disturbing, the tape. I got to see it. It's very disturbing. I looked at a picture of that young man," he said. "He was in a tuxedo, and — in fact, he put it up. And I will say that that looks like a really good, young guy."
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced on Thursday the arrest of two men for killing jogger Ahmaud Arbrey in a case that shocked the nation.
"On May 7th, 2020, the GBI arrested Gregory McMichael, age 64, and Travis McMichael, age 34, for the death of Ahmaud Arbery. They were both charged with murder and aggravated assault. The McMichaels were taken into custody and will be booked into the Glynn County Jail," the bureau said in a release.
The shooting occurred in February, but the men had not been arrested until today.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced an immediate ban on 1,500 models of military-style assault weapon, responding to a mass shooting and arson spree that left 22 people dead.
"These weapons were designed for one purpose, and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time," Trudeau told a news briefing.
"There is no use, and no place for such weapons in Canada."
The killing spree, the worst in Canadian history, began on the night of April 18 in Nova Scotia and led to a 13-hour manhunt for the shooter, who was eventually shot dead by police.
Police have said the assailant -- identified as 51-year-old denturist Gabriel Wortman -- had several guns with him and at least one was an assault-style weapon.
Trudeau said there will be a two-year amnesty for people who currently own assault-style weapons to protect them from liability, and parliament will eventually pass legislation to compensate them for turning in their guns.
But from now on, he said, "it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country."
A man armed with a high-powered assault rifle fired multiple rounds at the Cuban embassy in Washington early Thursday, authorities said, damaging the building and leading Havana to lodge a protest.
Police arrested the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Alexander Alazo of Aubrey, Texas. No one was injured.
"This morning at approximately 2:15 am, US Secret Service officers responded to the Embassy of Cuba following reports of shots fired," the Secret Service said in a statement.
"One individual was arrested for being in possession of an unregistered firearm as well as unregistered ammunition, assault with the intent to kill, and possession of a high capacity feed device.
"No injuries were reported at the scene."
While the suspect was arrested by Washington police, the investigation also includes the Secret Service, which is involved in assuring the security of foreign diplomats and embassies.
"The subject was immediately taken into custody without incident and the weapon was recovered," Hugh Carew, a spokesman for the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, said in a statement.
There was no motive given for the attack.
Local media said the suspect fired about 30 rounds at the embassy, located at the edge of the Adams Morgan neighborhood, a normally bustling area full of bars and restaurants but which has been stilled by the coronavirus shutdown.
The embassy posted pictures of bullet holes in the exterior walls and columns, a window and a light fixture.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez summoned the US charge d'affaires in Havana, Mara Tekach, to make a "strong protest" against what he called "terrorist aggression" against the embassy in Washington.
"It is not possible to disassociate this event from the upsurge in the US government's policy of aggression and hostility toward Cuba, or from the tightening of the blockade" on the Caribbean island, Rodriguez said in a statement to national television.
The administration of President Donald Trump has chilled relations with Havana, reversing course after an opening initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Tekach, in a statement after she was summoned, condemned the attack in Washington.
"It is a great relief that nobody was injured," she said.
"The United States takes its responsibilities under the Vienna Convention very seriously and will ensure a full and complete investigation," she continued.
A State Department spokesperson said that the agency was committed to working with law enforcement to protect foreign missions in the United States.
In October 2017, the Trump administration expelled 15 Cuban diplomats after a rash of incidents in which US embassy staff in Cuba reported as yet unexplained head pains, dizziness and hearing loss.
It has also reinstated tough controls on trade and travel to the island, after Obama's opening.
Police said Wednesday they caught a break several hours into a manhunt for the perpetrator of the worst mass shooting in Canadian history when they learned he was wearing a patrolman's uniform and driving a mock squad car.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather also confirmed that the attacker acted alone in the shooting and arson spree in which he killed at least 22 people.
But authorities, he said, "are continuing to investigate whether anyone may have assisted him, leading up to the incident," including helping him to acquire the unregistered guns used in the shooting spree or the police uniform he wore.
The gunman, identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, launched his rampage late Saturday in the seaside village of Portapique. His motive remains a mystery.
Wortman died roughly 14 hours later after being shot by police at a gas station outside Halifax, 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.
Going over a preliminary timeline of events, Leather said police responded to an emergency call about a possible shooting at 10:26 pm Saturday (0326 GMT Sunday), which was soon "determined to be a homicide."
A search revealed additional victims as well as fires. A police perimeter was set up and the search continued into Sunday morning, but by 8 am it became clear that the suspect had fled.
At around this time, "a key witness" helped police identify the suspect and they learned that he was wearing what turned out to be a real police uniform and driving a fake police car.
"The bulk of the details about our suspect came to us" from the witness between 7 and 8 am, said Leather.
Within two and a half hours, police caught up with Wortman.
At least 22 people were shot or burned to death in fires set by the suspect. Witnesses have told local media that Wortman lit homes on fire and shot residents as they escaped the flames.
The victims identified so far include a veteran police officer, a 17-year-old girl, a nurse, and pregnant care worker, an elementary school teacher, prison guards and a retired firefighter.
Police have said more victims may be found as they continue to comb through the rubble of several burned homes and vehicles.
A search for evidence is ongoing at 16 locations in the towns of Portapique, Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie, Milford and Enfield.
Local media said Wortman was a denturist who owned clinics in Halifax and Dartmouth that were closed under the pandemic lockdown.
He was also reportedly obsessed with policing, having refurbished several old squad cars, and struggled with alcoholism.
