News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion:
In The News:
U.S. teen wins $3 million at video game tournament Fortnite World Cup
Playing under the name “Bugha,” Giersdorf won the solo finals portion of the Fortnite World Cup by scoring 59 points, 26 more than his nearest competitor “psalm,” according to the Fortnite World Cup Leaderboard, posted on the game’s website.
“Words can’t even explain it.
I’m just so happy,” Giersdorf said in an interview at the event at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, posted by organizers on Twitter.
“Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”
Law Enforcement Identifies Gilroy Gunman Suspect
At least three people are dead and 15 are injured after the gunman opened fire at the final day of the festival, which draws crowds from out of state.
Police shot and him within a minute of shots going off, reported CBS News.
It’s unknown whether he acted alone, although police believe an additional suspect may have been involved, reported NBC News.
A manhunt is underway for the accomplice, Smithee said.
Garlic festival shooting: Children aged six and 13 confirmed dead
Six-year-old Stephen Romero is the first of the dead to be identified by local media. His mother and grandmother were wounded.
Police confirmed a man in his 20s was also killed. None of the victims have been officially named.
At least 15 people were transported to hospital, according to officials from the four hospitals where victims were brought.
At least 12 were treated for gunshot wounds, according to health officials.
Gilroy police chief Scott Smithee said during a news conference on Monday that the officers who were deployed at the event were able to respond within a minute.
He said three officers engaged the suspect and, although they were “outgunned with their handguns against a rifle”, they managed to fatally wound him quickly and end the shooting.
2 US troops killed in Afghanistan in apparent insider attack, official says
The U.S. official told Fox News an Afghan soldier killed the two Americans in southern Afghanistan.
NATO said in accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service members killed in action are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete.
The deaths mark the 11th and 12th U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan this year — a number nearly equal to the 13 U.S. troops killed all of last year, according to the Department of Defense.
In 2010 there were over 100,000 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan and 437 soldiers were killed.
Earlier on Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said President Trump ordered him to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan by the 2020 election.
Sales of Rush Limbaugh’s ‘Betsy Ross’ shirts reach $3 million: ‘This has been overwhelming’
Limbaugh debuted the shirt earlier this month on the show, saying he wanted to give people a way to push back against Colin Kaepernick after the ex-NFL quarterback objected to Nike releasing sneakers featuring the Betsy Ross.
Kaepernick reportedly argued the flag was a symbol of slavery in America.
The proceeds from the $27 shirts are going to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit that was started after 9/11 supporting the families of fallen heroes and injured veterans,
“There’s no reason to tear down our history and certainly there’s no reason to tear down Betsy Ross. She is an American hero, maybe one of the first feminists,” he added.
He said the success of the effort has spawned many “knock-offs” to surface online, forcing him to take possible legal action.
President Trump Signs H.R. 1327, The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
The White House.
Trump considers designating Antifa a terrorist organization
Former education secretary and Fox News contributor Bill Bennett reacts to the president supporting labeling Antifa a terror group and his strategy to target ‘the Squad’ over 2020 Democrats.
Trump commutes prison sentences of non-violent offenders after bipartisan urging
Federal prosecutors in Arkansas opted not to bring charges against Suhl, but prosecutors in Washington charged and convicted him.
Suhl was acquitted on half of the charges he faced, but still received a seven-year sentence, the White House said.
Nahmani was a first-time offender who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogs for importing synthetic cannabinoids from Hong Kong and China and selling them in the U.S. in 2014.
He received a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He appealed to the Eleventh Circuit and lost.
Nahmani’s release had bipartisan support from lawmakers including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rand Paul, R-Ky.
‘Pink Lady Bandit’ suspect arrested by FBI in connection to string of bank robberies in 3 states
Circe Baez, 35, was arrested at a hotel in Charlotte on suspicion of robbing four banks, the most recent robbery occurring Friday, authorities said.
“The Pink Lady is changing her trademark to an orange jumpsuit,” the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
The FBI also arrested Alexis Morales, 28, as an accomplice in the Friday robbery, which took place at a BB&T branch in Hamlet, N.C., according to FOX8 High Point.
Deputy shoots, kills carjacker who was beating K-9 officer with pistol, deputies say
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said a group of carjackers beat and shot at a man before taking his vehicle by force.
The victim was not seriously injured, and the carjackers took off with his vehicle, Gonzalez said.
Shortly after the carjacking, a K-9 deputy spotted a car that matched the description of the stolen vehicle near Woodford Drive and Overbluff Street, deputies said.
When he approached the vehicle, four men inside the car took off on foot, authorities said.
The K-9 officer was released and caught up to one of the carjackers, who started to beat the K-9 with a pistol, Gonzalez said.
Chicago weekend shootings leave 8 dead, 40 wounded
A series of shootings in Chicago this past weekend has left eight dead and another 40 wounded, reports say.
Nine people were struck Friday after 5 p.m.,15 people were shot Saturday and 24 people were shot Sunday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
DHS investigating child pornography case linked to SW Miami-Dade day care; 1 arrested
Federal agents raided the family-run daycare center around 4:30 a.m. Monday at 10470 Bird Road.
Working closely with the State Attorney’s Office, DHS made one arrest later that day. Parents have identified the arrested suspect as 28-year-old Alejandro Ancarola.
The DHS and police have hauled computer equipment out of the day care, as parents waited for answers.
Julieta Varona, the daughter of the daycare owner, tried to ease the worrying minds of a growing number of parents gathering at Little Seeds by telling them their children didn’t fall victim to child porn.
The incident took place on Saturday at the downtown San Antonio location of Fogo de Chão, during which the manager reportedly requested the police officer leave because of his gun.
Steakhouse in San Antonio apologizes after manager asks officer with gun to leave the restaurant
Det. Michael Helle, the president of the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association, later said in a press release that he hopes the incident encourages businesses to learn the laws concerning officers and their weapons.
“We thank the owners of Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse for acknowledging the mistake by one of their employees and for issuing a statement of support of San Antonio Police Officers,” said Helle.
“While we hope this wasn’t an example of anti-police bias, at the very least this incident shows that public-serving establishments need to be better educated about state gun laws, particularly as they apply to Police Officers.”
Politics:
Forget Mueller, Congress Needs to Interview the Real Author of the ‘Weissmann Report’
Robert Mueller’s confused, garbled testimony made it abundantly clear that he was nothing more than a figurehead for the Special Counsel investigation that he ostensibly led for 22 painstaking months.
The real mastermind behind this travesty of an investigation was Mueller’s second-in-command, Andrew Weissmann, and it’s time that he be held to account.
Tlaib Called Out By Tapper For Inaction
Speaking To Jake Tapper On CNN, Rep. Tlaib spoke about how she would boycott countries other than Israel.
Jake Tapper called her on why she hasn’t.
Crime-Plagued Baltimore Received $1.8 Billion of Obama’s 2009 Stimulus
The Obama administration allocated $1.8 billion of its 2009 stimulus to Baltimore, including $26.5 million to address crime prevention, $26 million to revamp abandoned properties, and $9.5 million to address homelessness.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, which conducted an analysis of the investment in 2015 after Obama decried Republicans for stiff-arming attempts to make “massive investments in urban communities,” the city received $1.8 billion, with $8.4 million going to a single zip code.
However, a recently resurfaced video shows former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh touring a neighborhood in East Baltimore and remarking on the rough shape of the area.
“What the hell? We should just take all this shit down,” she said on the tour.
“Whoa, you can smell the rats,” she exclaimed, adding “Whew, Jesus” and “Oh, my God, you can smell the dead animals”:
Baltimore’s unemployment rate sat at 7 percent when Obama left office in January 2017. It has dropped nearly 2 percent since Trump took office and was 5.1 percent as of May 2019.
Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren defend Al Sharpton after 100% accurate attack by Trump
Commentary/Opinion: Sharpton “has dedicated his life to the fight for justice for all.
No amount of racist tweets from the man in the White House will erase that—and we must not let them divide us.
I stand with my friend Al Sharpton in calling out these ongoing attacks on people of color,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Are we talking about the same person?
He is a conman, a scummy race-baiter, and an unapologetic anti-Semite, whose incitement against Jews has cost lives.
For some of the 2020 Democratic primary candidates, this apparently does not matter.
What matters is that Trump said a thing, so they need to say whatever is the opposite.
Namely, they need to say that Al Sharpton is stunning and brave.
I am not making this up.
Certain Democratic candidates are practically tripping over themselves to defend the cable news host’s honor, which is a hell of a thing to witness considering he has none.
Trump’s fiercest critics have become so deranged with rage, they will defend basically anything so long as Trump opposes it.
World News:
PHOTOS: Hong Kong Protesters Embrace American Flag in Fight for Freedom
Protests continued Sunday despite the violence in Yuen Long on Saturday, this time within the Hong Kong city center.
Protesters also waved American flags there.
Some carried signs reading “We need the 2nd Amendment” and “President Trump, please liberate Hong Kong”:
This weekend was not the first time the American flag surfaced as a symbol against Chinese tyranny. Pro-democracy protesters prominently waved the flag a week ago in the city center:
“We hope the U.S. and other nations will be able to help Hong Kong fight against Communist China’s policies,” a protester identified as Kelvin Wong told Bloomberg News in remarks published on July 15.
Another protester, Wildy Chan, told the Hong Kong Free Press that same week that he was waving a U.S. flag to urge America to act in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
As Hong Kong police denied the protesters a permit to march, they attacked the crowd despite its peaceful nature, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.
Canadian ‘thrill-kill’ suspects face grizzlies, blood-sucking flies as the law’s long arm closes in
“A family member described the teens to us as ‘skilled survivalists’ but they have no professional training that we’re aware of,” a Royal Canadian Mounted Police source told Fox News.
A law enforcement source told Fox News that authorities received a “strong” lead the pair may be in or near the tiny community, which is about 56 miles from Gillam, another town in Manitoba near the location where a vehicle that had been used by the suspects was found burned last week.
The weather conditions in the region are poor at the moment, with heavy wind and rain reported.
Brazil prison riot leaves at least 52 dead — including 16 decapitated
Para state prison officials said some inmates died of asphyxiation and the death count could rise.
Inmates also set fire to part of the Altamira prison, preventing authorities from accessing parts of the facility. The gangs involved in the violence were not identified.
No members of the prison’s staff were injured. Two prison officials were taken hostage during the chaotic fighting but have since been freed, the BBC reported.
Brazil investigates death of indigenous leader after miners reportedly attack village
A day earlier, indigenous leaders and politicians reported a Wajapi village was attacked.
They said the dozens of attackers consisted of people who mine illegally for precious metals.
The attackers were described as heavily armed and outfitted in military fatigues, The New York Times reported.
Rodolfe Rodrigues, a Senator for the state of Amapa, told The Times that miners had stabbed the indigenous leader to death and dumped his body in a river while other villagers fled.
Rodrigues identified the slain leader as Emyra Wajapi.
Mexican Police Rescue 150 Migrants Locked in Produce Truck
The Mexican Public Safety Department said that police pulled over a truck on a Veracruz highway after the driver failed to maintain his lane.
Authorities said the truck driver nearly struck the police car before being pulled over, according to the Associated Press.
When the officer pulled the truck over, he heard pounding on the walls of the cargo area and people calling for help, the article stated.
When the officer searched the truck, he found more than 150 migrants.
Tijuana: 20 Murdered in 24 Hours
According to information from the state attorney general’s office, seven other attacks occurred throughout various colonias in Tijuana.
Tijuana sits on the U.S. border with California, approximately 17 miles south of San Diego.
The cartel violence is attributed to a resurgence of remnants from the Cártel de Los Arellano Félix, which has aligned with Cártel Tijuana Nueva Generación (CTNG).
These two criminal groups are engaged in a turf dispute with the Sinaloa Cartel. In some areas, rival factions within the Sinaloa Cartel are fighting for control of the lucrative street-level markets and valuable routes leading into the United States.
Those involved in the killings are primarily low-level street dealers, lookouts, customers and enforcers for these individual criminal gangs. Many of these street-level dealers are targets of rip-crews looking for cash and drugs.
Tijuana set a new record for homicides in a single year in 2018 with 2,518 despite numerous measures taken by Mexico City to intervene, including military surges and use of additional federal and state police personnel.
Four teenage protesters killed by security forces in central Sudan
Witnesses described how militia from the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fired on teenagers, many of whom were wearing school uniforms and carrying school bags, as they marched peacefully in protest at shortages of water, electricity and public transport in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state.
There were also reports of at least one adult casualty.
The shooting was one of the bloodiest incidents in Sudan since the RSF killed more than 120 people at a protest site in Khartoum, the capital, last month.
The government claims far fewer died in that attack.
The RSF are commanded by Mohammed Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is seen as the most powerful of the military rulers in charge of Sudan since the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in April.
Commentary/Opinion:
What’s the Deal with the Green New Deal?
There’s been a lot of talk about The Green New Deal.
Beyond the headlines, what is it really? Given our energy needs, is it practical?
Can we have an abundance of energy and a clean planet?
Alex Epstein, the author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, considers these questions and has thought-provoking answers.