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Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Faison issued a public apology this week after he was caught on video trying to pull down a high school basketball referee's pants during an argument at a game.
Local news station WSMV reports that Faison was attending a boys basketball game at Providence Academy in Johnson City when a tussle broke out among players over a loose ball.
At this point, Faison left his seat and walked over to the scoring table where he started arguing with a referee. After a brief exchange of words, Faison tried to pull the ref's pants down and then walked away.
He was subsequently ejected from the building.
READ MORE: Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene to deliver 'Republican response' to January 6th anniversary
Faison took to Twitter in the wake of the incident and delivered a public apology.
"Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref," he said. "I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted from the gym. I’ve never really lost my temper but I did tonight and it was completely stupid of me. Emotions getting in the way of rational thoughts are never good. I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong."
Watch the video below.
TN State Rep. Jeremy Faison, House GOP Chair, tried to fight and depants a high school basketball referee.\n\nFAISON: "Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref. I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted ... I was bad wrong."pic.twitter.com/qlBttjWZsg— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1641414753
One person was killed and a second wounded at a shooting at the Walmart Supercenter in Fairfield Township, Ohio around 8 p.m.
"Video was sent to us that shows one person dead inside the store and a worker shot," Sheree Paolello of WLWT-TV reported. "So graphic and awful."
WCPO reports a Walmart employee said the wounded victim worked at the school as a greeter.
Authorities said it was not an active shooter situation.
"Fairfield Township authorities, Liberty Township authorities, Butler county deputies and officials with the city of Hamilton are all responding to the scene," WLWT-TV reports.
\u201cEmergency personnel are still on scene after one person is dead after a shooting at the Walmart Supercenter in Fairfield Township. @Enquirer\u201d— Cara Owsley (@Cara Owsley) 1653615422
On Thursday, CNN reported that Justice Department investigators have interviewed Republicans in Georgia about whether they had any contacts with former President Donald Trump's campaign, as part of the growing probe into whether a crime was committed in the plot to submit slates of fake "electors" declaring Trump won states he did not win.
"In one case, FBI agents asked a prominent Georgia Republican whether he had direct conversations with Trump," reported Katelyn Polantz. "'They just asked who talked to me. If anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with me. Did Giuliani talk to me? Did Trump talk to me?' said Patrick Gartland, who was set to serve as an elector but dropped out. He recounted how two FBI agents visited his home in Marietta, Georgia, a few weeks ago."
"Investigators have sought answers this month from Gartland and others connected to the GOP in Georgia — both in FBI interviews and in grand jury subpoenas for documents and testimony," said the report. "Investigators are looking at whether the Trump campaign played a role in the submission of false election certificates, according to people approached by the Justice Department."
The fake electors plot was spearheaded by pro-Trump attorney John Eastman, who laid out a plan whereby then-Vice President Mike Pence would declare all the Biden-won states with "alternate" Trump electors to be disputed, not count their votes during the gaveling of the electoral college, and declare Trump the winner. Legal experts broadly considered this scheme to be illegal, as did Pence himself.
"The subpoenas issued to Gartland and others are seeking communications with 'any member, employee or agent of Donald J. Trump or any organization advocating in favor of the 2020 re-election of Donald J. Trump,' including his official campaign," said the report. "The subpoenas also seek any communications with more than two dozen named Trump campaign officials, attorneys and Georgia electors. CNN reported Wednesday that a recent subpoena related to the alternate electors sought communications with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark, right-wing attorney John Eastman and others."
According to the report, the case hinges on whether the fake electors truly believed Trump won and the election was in dispute, or if they knew they had lost and their scheme was an act of fraud — which could mean more obvious criminal liability for the actors involved.
You can read more here.
Ali Velshi held up a dark front page of the Uvalde Leader-News as he began anchoring MSNBC "Prime" from Texas on the dramatically shifting official accounts of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
"In the aftermath of any horrific event, information is spotty. our understanding of what happens evolves over time, but even by those standards of breaking, and developing news, the inability of officials to give a consistent, and coherent account of a key portion of the timeline of attack is, frankly, confounding," Velshi reported.
He noted multiple official statements on whether an armed school resource officer engaged the gunman. And played two videos purported to show officers clashing with parents outside the school.
Velshi explained why examining law enforcement's response is important.
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"Look, the point in raising all these questions about the law enforcement response is certainly not to pick on officers who may well have been very brave and doing their best in an unbelievably stressful and highly threatening situation," he said.
"But, law enforcement — more and more law enforcement — is really the only response to school shootings that have been proposed or allowed by the Republican officials who run the state of Texas," he noted. "After the Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas in 2018, the state passed multiple bills to, 'harden schools'. The Uvalde school district doubled its security budget, it created its own police force and threat assessment teams at each school. "
If that is the only answer that Texas has to the scourge of school shootings, — not to prevent them, but to guard and respond to schools better when they happen — well, they've got to show that plan works," Velshi said. "And tonight the people of Uvalde have a lot of questions about how well it worked."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
Ali Velshi www.youtube.com
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