07/24/24
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, July 24th.
National Tequila Day.
Do you know about tequila? Have you heard of it? It’s cool, it’s like a liquid bandaid for the insides.
And now, the news.
Sonya Massey
-via CNN
Starting with a story that didn’t get enough attention when it happened, and then headlines were completely overshadowed by the announcement of Kamala Harris, but it’s an important story that we’ve got to talk about.
Sonya Massey.
Sonya Massey was a 36-year-old Black woman in Sangamon County, Illinois, who called 9-1-1 just after midnight on July 6th to report a possible “prowler” at her house. But shortly after police came to the door, she was shot to death by the officers.
Two weeks later, on Monday, police finally released the bodycam footage, leaving, frankly, more questions.
First of all, as far as bodycam footage goes, one officer had his camera on as his arrived on scene. The other, deputy Sean Grayson, did not turn his on until after Massey was shot. However, from that one camera the interaction goes as follows: the officers speak with Massey, who struggles to understand and answer the questions being asked. At one point, they notice that Massey is boiling water in the house and tells her to turn off the stove.
She picks up the pot with the boiling water and the deputy steps away from the water. Massey says “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” twice. To which Grayson says, “You better f**king not or I swear to God I’ll f**king shoot you in the f**king face.”
He draws his gun, Massey says “I’m sorry” while lifting the pot, and that’s when Grayson shoots three times. After a beat, the other deputy says “shots fired” and calls for emergency services. While he’s doing that, Grayson says - “Dude, I’m not taking f**king boiling water to the f**king head. And look, it came right to our feet, too.”
He also told his partner that Massey didn’t need medical help. I’m not going to repeat what he said, because it was genuinely just cold and dehumanizing. He proceeded to be even more dehumanizing to another group of law enforcement outside the house.
Last week, Grayson was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Massey’s father also says he originally was told his daughter was killed by an intruder – not the people she called for help.
Sonya Massey was 36-years-old. She called the police for help. She called for help.
And she was shot by someone who, even in her death, never saw her as a person.
It is of note that the state’s attorney for the county said the Illinois State Police investigation found that Grayson was not justified in his shooting.
Iowa Abortion Ban
-via Iowa Public Radio
Following an Iowa State Supreme Court decision last month, Iowa six-week abortion ban will go into effect on Monday, July 29th, at 8 AM.
Six weeks is before many people even know they’re pregnant.
This is, essentially, a ban on abortions in the state making Iowa the fourth state with a ban after six weeks. Additionally, 14 other states have near total bans.
Hey here’s something… Kamala Harris has spent her time since the Dobbs decision talking about how important abortion access is and, if elected with a Democratic House and Senate, you better believe abortion rights will be made law again.
Sen. Bob Menendez Will Resign
-via ABC News
After being found guilty on all counts of loving crime and gold bars, New Jersey’s Senator Bob Menendez announced that he will leave the Senate at the end of August. August 20th, to be exact.
He maintains his innocence and, following his exit from the Senate, faces an October 29th sentencing date.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will fill the seat, though he hasn’t said who will he will seat. Murphy is a democrat, and Andy Kim, currently in the House, is a Democrat. It’s possible Murphy could move Kim to the Senate and then fill that House seat.
Secret Service Director Resigns
-via CBS News
A day after saying “no thank you” to suggestions she should quit her job, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheadle resigned from her position.
To which President Biden said Hey! That’s only okay when I do it!
The President will assign a new director soon.
In the meantime, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed deputy director Roland Rowe to serve as acting director.
Man Accused of Stabbing Trans Teen
-via NBC News
Twenty-nine-year-old Alexander Love has been arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder after her stabbed a 17-year-old transgender girl at the Miami airport on Sunday.
She was sitting on the floor eating a meal when, unprovoked, Love stabbed the girl 18 times in various places on her body. Her current condition is not known. The last public information was that she was in critical condition and had undergone emergency surgery.
After arrest, Love admitted to being involved in the attack and said he’d become acquainted with the girl before the attack. He also said he believes he was drugged and needed to hurt whoever hurt him.
No word yet on whether this happened past TSA or in the area of the airport before TSA because, as a reminder, dude had a knife. And usually TSA is supposed to catch that sort of thing.
Police have not ruled out hate crime charges.
Netanyahu Visits America
-via AP News, Politico, and NY Times
Something you’ll likely hear about today (or in tomorrow’s episode!) is that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the country for a multi-day trip that will include a meeting with the president as well as a speech before a joint session of Congress.
Shockingly, some people have a problem with this!
Speaker Johnson already sent out a letter to all House Members telling them to be on their best behavior because let’s definitely not make Benjamin Netanyahu uncomfortable! We certainly wouldn’t want that.
A protest on Tuesday, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, filled the rotunda with hundreds of demonstrators in red shirts that said “not in our name.”
After about thirty minutes of chanting, officers began making arrests.
Because the chanting was too loud.
If lawmakers are upset about the chanting, just wait until they hear what’s happening in Gaza!
So far, at least 18 Hour Democrats and 9 Senate Democrats have said that they will be missing Netanyahu’s address. I would expect that number to grow.
Vice President Harris will miss the meeting due to a campaign event, though she is expected to have a one-on-one meeting with him this week. JD Vance will also miss the meeting, also because of campaign events.
This is obviously being interpreted as Vance standing closely with Netanyahu because he sent out a message saying so, and Harris hating Israel because she said she’d have a one-on-one with him but would miss the big talk.
Classic.
Speaker Johnson also had big feelings about Harris missing the event saying, “She is supposed to be seated next to me at the rostrum.” Mikey – it’s okay to miss our friends when they have to work and can’t sit next to you while someone doing war crimes speaks but we can’t lash out. We need to have manners.
So the President will meet with him this week, as will Vice President Harris. JD Vance will not. That only leaves Trump – who will welcome his buddy to his Mar a Lago house at some point this week. Trump isn’t sure when (seriously. At various points he has said the meeting was Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Is he fit for another four years in office?)
It’s worth noting that, while Trump denounced pro-Palestine protests on college campus and said that Israel should actually use more force in Gaza, he has also said he believes he can stop the war because of his friendship with Netanyahu.
And I just… don’t think either of these men should be in power. And I don’t think they should be friends.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
President Biden is expected to address the nation today for the first time since he announced he’s dropping out of the race. So look forward to that.
I’m proud of tequila. And our long-established friendship.
But more than that, more than tequila, because you are also there for me – I’m proud of you.