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ausetkmt · 4 months

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As they sat in the lobby of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C., last month, Garnell Whitfield Jr. and others who have lost relatives nationwide to gun violence listened as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland helped dedicate an exhibit honoring those killed.

Garland spoke of some of the victims on the new "Faces of Gun Violence Memorial" wall, including Whitfield's 86-year-old mother, Ruth, describing her as a "mother, grandmother and great grandmother whose door and pantry were always open to family and friends." He said the wall will serve as a reminder to ATF employees of who they are fighting for each day.

In this May 15, 2022, file photo, police sit in front of a Tops Grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

"That in and of itself is progress that they would understand the need to be more empathetic and to realize the impact of gun violence on the people that they're trying to protect and serve," Whitfield, the retired Buffalo, New York, fire commissioner, told ABC News.

This week marks two years since a self-described white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. In addition to Whitfield's mother, the other victims were Roberta Drury, 32; retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Heyward Patterson, 67; Pearl Young, 77; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Katherine "Kat" Massey, 72; Margus Morrison, 52; and Andre Mackniel, 53.

"I will always carry the scar of 5/14 and what happened to my mother. I'll always miss her. So, I don't expect to be healed," Whitfield said. "I know that's something everybody talks about. I think that's kind of an unrealistic expectation."

Garnell Whitfield Jr. has dedicated his life to fighting white supremacy in honor of his 86-year-old moth...

Malik Rainey for ABC News

One of the major hurdles to overcoming his grief, he said, is that such racially motivated killings and other hate crimes targeting Black people continue to rise across the country.

An ABC News analysis of the most recent FBI data shows that of the more than 8,500 hate crimes reported nationwide between 2020 and 2022, Black people were targeted in 52.3% of the offenses. Between 2021 and 2022, the numbers rose from 2,217 to 3,421, making Black people four times more likely to be targeted than the overall U.S. non-Hispanic Black population.

Hate Crimes Against Blacks in America 2020-2022

ABC News Illustration / Federal Bureau of Investigation

Among the hate crimes committed since the Buffalo mass shooting was a racially motivated attack at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, that left three Black people dead on May 26, 2023. On Nov. 22, 2023, a white gunman wounded two Black and two white shoppers at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, in what police said was a racially motivated shooting. The gunmen in both rampages died by suicide, according to police.

In February 2023, a Florida man and a Maryland woman, both alleged to be white supremacists, were arrested and accused of plotting to attack multiple energy substations with the purpose of destroying Baltimore, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Officials said the pair was fueled by a racist extremist ideology as they "conspired to inflict maximum harm on the power grid" and "lay this city to waste." Both suspects have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are awaiting a trial

"Honestly, we shouldn't even have to look at the FBI statistics to know that Black people in America are still victims of subjugation, of discrimination, of racism, of hate," Whitfield told ABC News. "The fact that's still the case all these years later tells you a lot about this country and what its intent is for us."

'It was a modern-day lynching'

About two months before the massacre at a Tops store in the predominantly Black East Side neighborhood of Buffalo, President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching law, named after a Black teenager who was kidnapped, beaten and killed in Mississippi in August 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. The law defines lynching as a hate crime and increases the maximum penalty to 30 years imprisonment for anyone convicted of conspiring to commit a racially motivated crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

To date, no one has been charged under the law.

"There was a reason why it took nearly 200 years to pass an antilynching law in Congress. It's because the power of lynching is so much embedded into the society," Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ABC News.

Browne-Marshall said lynchings were committed to strike fear in Black communities, to "send a message to the community that white men are in charge."

Browne-Marshall described the Emmett Till Antilynching law as "powerful," but said prosecutors have been reluctant to apply it to criminal hate crime cases.

"So few prosecutors are doing their jobs when it comes to lynching. We as Americans have ignored the power of the prosecutor to bring charges," she said.

Gloria Brown-Marshall is a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

ABC News

"Without protest, the prosecutors are sitting back and allowing these cases to be put under the rug," Browne-Marshall said.

But federal prosecutors countered they are using an arsenal of federal hate crime laws to seek justice for victims of racially motivated crimes.

In the Arbery case, the defendants -- Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan -- were convicted on state charges of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. They were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole. They were also convicted of federal hate crime charges, including using violence to intimidate and interfere with Arbery because of his race and because he was using a public street. The McMichaels were given additional life sentences, while Byran received a 35-year prison sentence.

“Protecting civil rights and combatting white supremacist violence was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and one that we will continue to pursue with the urgency it demands," Attorney General Garland said following the sentencing of the McMichaels and Bryan.

"Racially-motivated acts of violence are abhorrent and unlawful, and have no place in our society today," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said earlier this month after a 52-year-old North Carolina man was sentenced to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release for an unprovoked attack on a Black motorist he shouted racial slurs at and physically assaulted. The attacker, who prosecutors said displayed a Ku Klux Klan flag at his home, was also convicted of physically assaulting a Hispanic neighbor in a hate-filled assault.

"The severe sentence imposed for these vicious hate crimes should send a strong message that perpetrators of hate-fueled violence will be held accountable," Clarke added. "The Justice Department is steadfast in its commitment to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes wherever they occur in our country."

Payton Gendron, the gunman in the Buffalo massacre, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 15 state charges, including 10 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. In January, federal prosecutors announced they would pursue the death penalty against Gendron.

A federal grand jury indicted the Buffalo gunman with 27 federal charges, including 14 violations of the Shepard-Byrd Act, a landmark anti-hate crime law signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was tortured and murdered in Wyoming in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a Black man killed in 1998 by white supremacists who abducted him, beat him and dragged him by a chain from the back of a pickup truck.

Garnell Whitfield and Browne-Marshall argued that the Emmett Till Antilynching law should be expanded to include racially motivated mass shootings.

"It was meant to strike fear into our communities, to start a race war and further subjugate us, keep us in our place. So, yes, it was a modern-day lynching," said Whitfield, adding that the only difference was that the killer used an AR-15 rifle instead of a rope.

While the antilynching law requires proof of a conspiracy, both Whitfield and Browne-Marshall alleged that some social media companies facilitated the teenage killer's white supremacist radicalization by allowing racist propaganda to fester on their platforms.

"This is a conspiracy. It's the oldest conspiracy we know – white supremacy," Whitfield said.

But no precedent has been set for criminally charging a social media company as a co-defendant in a mass shooting, and prosecutors have found no evidence the Buffalo shooter entered into an "agreement" with any social media company to carry out his attack, a requirement of federal conspiracy.

In May 2023, Whitfield and other relatives of those killed in the Buffalo attack filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Buffalo in an attempt to hold several social media companies responsible for aiding the killer in his attack.

The gunman was "motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist propaganda fed to him by the social media companies whose products he used," the lawsuit argues, adding that the teenager did not appear to have been raised in a racist family, did not live in a racially polarized community and had no reported personal history of negative interactions with Black people.

Some social media companies named in the lawsuit denied the allegations it is aiding the indoctrination of users of their platforms in white supremacy. Twitch, the Amazon-owned social media gaming site the Buffalo gunman used to live stream the shooting, said in a statement that it closely monitors its site and took down the livestream of the Tops rampage in two minutes.

"We take our responsibility to protect our community extremely seriously, and trust and safety is a major area of investment," Twitch said in its statement in response to the lawsuit, adding it was continuously examining the Buffalo shooting and "sharing those learnings with our peers in the industry to support a safer internet overall."

Google, the parent company of YouTube, which was also named in the lawsuit, also issued a statement denying the allegations, saying, "Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said on its website in February, "We define a hate speech attack as dehumanizing speech; statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt or disgust; cursing; and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanizing comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate, or exclude specific groups, and that are often linked with offline violence. We also prohibit the usage of slurs that are used to attack people on the basis of their protected characteristics."

MORE: Buffalo mass shooting suspect 'radicalized' by fringe social media: NY attorney general

The Buffalo lawsuit followed the release of a scathing report by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, alleging several online platforms played roles in the Buffalo mass shooting by radicalizing the killer as he consumed voluminous amounts of racist and violent content and allowing him to broadcast the deadly attack.

The KKK is 'alive and well'

The 64-year-old Shepherd, who describes himself as a "reformed racist" and now advocates against racial hate, said he also felt guilt.

He said many of the same practices he used to recruit KKK members are still being followed. But instead of rallies and cross burnings, white supremacist groups today use the internet to grow and indoctrinate their ranks, Shepherd said.

"It's not the robes and hoods, it's the mentality. And that mentality is what we've got to address," Shepherd said. "As I've said before, the internet is a great thing. But that's one of the tools that's being used to radicalize these kids."

'There's nothing special about this day'

On Tuesday, a monument titled "Unity" will be unveiled outside the Tops store where the Buffalo mass shooting occurred. A moment of silence will be held at 2:28 p.m. ET marking the time the massacre unfolded followed by a tolling of the bells, officials said.

The 5/14 Memorial Commission will also reveal the design picked for a second monument to be erected in Buffalo that is being funded by the state.

But Whitfield said that for him, the day will be no different from any other.

"So 5/14 may be significant for some, it's two years now since then. But it's no more significant on 5/14 than it is on 5/13 or 5/12, or today. I have to live the rest of my life without my mother and with what happened to her," Whitfield said.

Whitfield said he'll continue to speak out against white supremacy and is motivated to be as "consistent and determined" in that work as white nationalists are in their deeds.

"Every day since then [5/14] and for the rest of my life, I will honor my mother by doing this work," Whitfield said. "There's nothing special about this day coming up because I've tried to live according to these principles every day. That's how I'm going to honor my mother and my ancestors."

#2 years after racially motivated Buffalo mass shooting #hate crimes targeting Black people persist #america still as hateful as ever #hatecrimes rise in america #Black in america #Black Lives Matter #Buffalo stills awaits justice #Tops Murders #white hate #white supremacy #hate crimes

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galerymod · 11 days

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NFL star in handcuffs:

It remains to be seen what the consequences of the incident will be for the players involved.

Shortly before the start of the NFL season, superstar Tyreek Hill was temporarily taken into custody as part of a traffic stop. As a result, the pass receiver and his team were asked to take a critical stance towards the player. The police justify their actions.

The police had previously released video footage from bodycams documenting the stop. The published video footage shows Hill sitting in a black sports car. A police officer approaches his vehicle and Hill hands the officer something through the lowered window. The window is then rolled up again.

The police officer then asks him to lower the window again, but Hill does not do so. Another police officer then forcefully opened the driver's door, whereupon Hill was pulled out of the vehicle and pinned to the ground. An officer pressed his knee into Hill's back, whereupon he was handcuffed.

‘I still don't know what happened,’ Hill said after the NFL opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars (20-17) and criticised: ’What if I wasn't Tyreek Hill? God knows what those officials would have done.’

The Dolphins wrote in their statement that this was ‘a reminder’ that ‘not every situation like this ends peacefully, and we are grateful that it did in this one.’

There are ‘some officers who confuse their responsibility and dedication with misguided power’, it continued: ‘We commend the MDPD (Miami Dade Police Department, ed.) for taking the proper and necessary action and releasing this footage so quickly, but also urge them to take equally swift and decisive action against the officers who behaved so abhorrently.’

youtube

Hill uncooperative according to police

No, Power abuse in its purist form.

It's interesting how many cops turned up on the tray for a normal traffic stop!

Any non-POC citizen would have had no problem getting into his car and the traffic stop would not have happened, this is structural racism!

The black man with the big fat car fits the image of police officers abusing their power.

Throw them out, they have no place in the police force, at most as security guards in a shopping centre car park.

mod

Of course, first investigate properly and then throw them out, that's just our opinion, then jobs will open up for more capable people with a greater sense of responsibility and the appropriate de-escalation skills.

Cops on Steroids?

Is that the problem? It's interesting when a professional athlete looks like an untrained citizen against a normal patrolman, isn't it?

I can only puke for the steroid pumped up cops with their bullshit core spirit.

Do a test on steroids with one of them - I bet you'll be surprised.

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ivory000 · 3 months

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In the beginning of our trip we departed from Jacksonville to Boston and from Boston to our destination… London! The picture I have shown is one of the pictures I took from leaving Jacksonville to boston. I thought it would be a cool way to start the blog with a cool picture of a sunrise. We met our travel guide Ivo at the Airport when we landed and he gave us a blue card called the Oyster card. He explained how it can be used for any transportation system in London(bus,boat,tunnel system etc.). The first thing we did when we got there was use the tunnel system which is how we got to a place called Russel Square. This was the location of our hotel The Royal National. We checked in our bags but our rooms weren’t going to be ready for a while so Ivo just told to grab some breakfast at the countless places there are to eat here. I chose to go to a place called Prets which is if I were to compare it to anything in the U.S, I would say it is the European equivalent to Wawa. So we ate there and it was 🤌. After that the first thing Ivo showed us as our travel guide was the 7 dials statue. Around the 7 dials stayed there are multiple shops surrounding and Ivo explained to us that the shops used to be pubs and they were all connected by an underground passageway that was used by criminals that needed to hide or getaway from the police. After he showed us that we walked around a bit to explore the sights and we saw a ton of statues that around the city of London way to many important figures to count. Fast forward to about 1 o’clock we used the hour before we had to get back to the hotel to eat lunch. I wasn’t hungry so me and Khalil just got some milk shakes from 5 guys (kinda lame I know) but after that we were finally able to get to the hotel and take showers before going into the boat ride we had planees for the late evening where we saw little Ben and my personal favorite thing we saw the bridge from Harry Potter that was destroyed in the half blood prince ( The millennium Bridge). After that we ate dinner and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

#FSCJ #london #danialcronrath

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killed-by-choice · 1 year

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Shirley Payne, 33 (USA 1983)

On January 4, 1983, Albert Payne got a phone call from his friend Debbie Manning, who worked in the ER at a Miami hospital. Debbie gave Albert some horrible news: His wife Shirley was dead. She bled to death from an abortion. "No way my wife is pregnant," Albert responded, and he hung up. Still not believing what was happening, he called the day care where his three surviving kids were. The day care told him that Shirley never showed up to pick up the children.

Earlier that day, Shirley went to an abortion facility called Woman’s Care Center in Miami in secret. She was at least the fourth client they killed. In fact, she was the second client to be killed by that facility in less than three weeks.

On that day, facility owner and abortionist Hipolito Barreiro perforated Shirley’s uterus. Barreiro misled Shirley to believe that nothing illegal was going on even though he was not licensed in America. Instead of immediately calling an ambulance, he tried to cover up his crimes at Shirley’s expense.

Dr. Nsibide Ipke, who did not work at the facility, was called by the panicked unlicensed abortionist, who wanted Ipke to come over and forge documents to put the blame for Shirley’s injury on someone else. “You’ve got to come sign. I’m not licensed.” Ipke, who up until then had believed Barreiro to be licensed, went to the facility to see what was going on and found Barreiro trying to attend to Shirley before calling an ambulance. When paramedics finally arrived on the scene, they found the heavily bleeding Shirley lying on a couch with an IV in her arm.

Because the abortionist didn’t immediately call an ambulance, Shirley was in critical condition from her perforated uterus. An emergency hysterectomy was done, but Shirley just lost far too much blood. She bled to death.

Her husband Albert was in a state of shock disbelief over the death of his wife and his fourth child. Shirley never told him she was pregnant and he didn’t understand why she kept that secret from him.

After Shirley's death, authorities lamented that they were powerless to oversee abortion facilities in Florida. "We have no authority to look into sanitary conditions or whether a [facility] location is near a hospital," a licensing and certification official told a reporter for Florida Today. An abortion facility could only be investigated in the event of a complaint or a client death, the official said, and that the only permissible grounds for state action would be if the abortion had been done by somebody other than a licensed physician. While authorities told reporters that greater state oversight could protect women from horrible conditions in legal abortion facilities, The Florida Abortion Council (an organization of abortion facility owners) had gotten a US district court to strike down a 1980 Florida law that would have allowed state oversight. Over and over again, the abortion industry put money over women’s lives.

Despite the backlash from abortion supporters, the abortion facility was finally closed down. It should never have taken four dead clients and many more injuries to shut this hazardous business down.

"Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VV47-6J4 : 25 December 2014), Shirley Yvonne Payne, 04 Jan 1983; from "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol. , certificate number 2257, Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.

Death certificate 2257

“Fourth Woman Dies After Abortion at Miami Clinic,” Miami Herald, Jan. 5, 1983

“Miami police tie 4th death to abortions,” The Times-Picayune, .Jan. 6, 1983

“4th Woman Dies In Abortion Clinic,” The Daytona Beach Morning Journal, Jan. 6, 1983

“Clinic Owner is Held After Latest Death,” Miami Herald, Jan. 8, 1983

“2 die in 17 days at Miami abortion clinic, Florida Today (Cocoa, FL), Jan. 8, 1983

“Clinic owner held in abortion death,” The Mobile (AL) Register, Jan. 10, 1983

“Miami Abortion Clinic Closed Down,” The Ocala Star-Banner, Jan. 11, 1983

"Abortion clinic being investigated after fourth death” Tampa Tribune, January 3, 1983

“Chronology of Claims Against Women's Care Center” Miami Herald, January 7, 1983

“Cluster of Abortion Deaths at a Single Facility,” Kafrissen, Grimes, Hogue, Sacks, Obstetrics & Gynecology, 68:3, September 1986, 387-389

CDC Abortion Surveillance 1983

#pro life #black lives matter #tw abortion #unsafe yet legal #tw murder #tw ab*rtion #abortion #abortion debate #death from legal abortion

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notjustanyannie · 2 years

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On the last street before leaving Jacksonville, there’s a dark brick one-story building that the locals know as the school for “bad” kids. It’s actually a tiny public school for children with disabilities. It sits across the street from farmland and is 2 miles from the Illinois city’s police department, which makes for a short trip when the school calls 911.

Administrators at the Garrison School call the police to report student misbehavior every other school day, on average. And because staff members regularly press charges against the children — some as young as 9 — officers have arrested students more than 100 times in the last five school years, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica found. That is an astounding number given that Garrison, the only school that is part of the Four Rivers Special Education District, has fewer than 65 students in most years

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therecordchanger62279 · 10 months

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THE PORTAL

Short Fiction

Anytime the inspector stops by my office close to quitting time can only spell trouble for me, and today was no exception.

“Inspector, what can I do for you?”

“Matt, I need you to drive over to St. Augustine and look into a possible suicide on the Bridge of Lions about a half hour ago.”

“St. Augustine? Why-“

“They’re short-handed right now. Dave Coates retired several weeks ago, and they’ve got somebody on vacation, so they called and asked for some help. I thought of you because I know how much you love surprises. There’s a black & white on the scene right now, and I told them you were on the way. Some guy took a jump off the bridge while the drawbridge was raised. He was in a cab, and stepped out for a cigarette, and the cabbie heard a splash and the guy was nowhere to be found. Talk to the cabbie, and see what else you can turn up. Probably just somebody depressed about The Jaguars.”

“I didn’t think anyone down here cared enough about that team to kill themselves over it.”

“No, probably not. Don’t forget to call your wife, and tell her you won’t be home for dinner.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. She’ll be thrilled.”

And as he walked out of the office, I picked up the phone and dialed. I dreaded what was coming next.

“Terry, have you started dinner yet?”

“Don’t you dare tell me you’re coming home late again!”

“I’m sorry, but the inspector is sending me to St. Augustine on a case. Probably routine, but, I won’t-“

“Matt, I’m getting tired of this. You’re never home anymore. Janie doesn’t even remember what you look like. I’m beginning to think you should’ve stayed where you were and we never should’ve left Georgia.”

“Don’t say that, honey. You know how hard I worked to make detective. This kind of thing comes with the job.”

“ Yeah, I know. How late do you think you’ll be?”

“ I’d expect to be home no later than 10 – maybe earlier if it turns out to be routine.”

“Why do you have to go to St. Augustine? I thought you were a detective with the Jacksonville Police Department?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it when I get home.”

“If I’m still up.”

We said our goodbyes and I grabbed my jacket and headed out to my car. The drive to St. Augustine would take a little less than an hour if there weren’t any traffic tie-ups. It’s a straight shot down 95 South to US 1. I figured I’d stop to fill up, and get a cold sandwich on the way. Lately, cold sandwiches are a staple of my diet.

_____

As I came upon the Bridge of Lions near St. Augustine, I saw lights from the cruiser, and two officers – one sitting on the hood of his black & white, and the other leaning against the driver side door. In front of them was parked a Red Cab with the driver at the front staring into space.

“Hi, I’m Detective Matt Reed, Jacksonville P.D. Sorry for the wait.”

“Officer Tom Billings, and this is my partner Officer Scott McCowan.”

We all shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, and then got down to business.

“So what’s the story? Somebody jumped off the bridge?”

Billings did the talking, “Looks like. The cabdriver is a little spooked. He was taking his fare from the Ghost Tour-

“The what?”

“The Ghost Tour. You know?”

“What’s the Ghost Tour?”

“Where did you say you were from, Detective?”

“I just moved to Jacksonville a couple of months ago from Atlanta.” “Oh, OK. So you’re not real familiar with St. Augie’s.”

“Not really, no.”

“Well it’s a tourist hangout. Lots of things to see and do. And there are parts of the city that are said to be haunted, and The Ghost Tours are a chance for tourists to visit all the supposedly haunted spots in the city while riding in a hearse.”

“You’re serious?”

“’Fraid so. Anyway, the cabbie’s fare was just returning from The Ghost Tour, and he was heading back to his hotel. When they reached the bridge, there was a boat passing through, and they had to wait while the drawbridge was raised to let it pass. The guy asked the cabbie if he could step out for a minute and have a cigarette, and the cabdriver told him to go ahead. A couple of minutes later, the cabbie says he heard a splash, and when he got out of the cab, the guy was nowhere to be seen.”

“So he didn’t actually see him jump.”

“No, but he must have. He couldn’t have just vanished, so he must’ve gone over the side.”

“How do you know he didn’t fall?”

“He left his shoes on the bridge, and the cab fare on the back seat. Tip and everything.”

“So he planned to jump?”

“It looks that way,” said Billings.

“Wait a minute. How did he know the drawbridge would be raised as they were passing? If that hadn’t happened he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get out of the cab.”

“We thought of that, but if he’s a local, he might’ve known that the bridge is raised every evening at that time to let a boat from the Scenic Cruises Tour pass through on its last run of the day.”

“If he’s a local why is he doing the tourist thing?”

“Some locals do. It’s not unheard of. Besides he gave the cabbie a local address.”

“Maybe he was staying with relatives. Did you run the address yet?”

“Yeah, it’s over on Valencia. Residential neighborhood. 1647.”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t add up. I’ll talk to the cabbie. Did he say-“

“He didn’t give us much except a description of the guy. He told us the guy was pleasant and made small talk with him, but other than that, nothing.”

“Are there divers in the water?”

“Yeah, they’ve been in about 15 minutes, but as windy as it is, and with these currents, the guy could be half way to Havana by now.”

“Well maybe we’ll catch a break. Let me go talk to the driver. Got a name?”

“Sherman Davis. But everybody just calls him “Sherm”.”

“Is that right? Well let’s go talk to “Sherm”.”

I walked over to the Red Cab, and pulled out my badge and introduced myself to Sherman Davis.

“Mr. Davis? Detective Reed, Jacksonville P.D. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions about what happened?”

Sherman Davis had been turned the opposite direction facing the water. As he turned around, I noticed he was shaking.

“Mr. Davis? You ok?”

“Yeah, I guess so. You don’t have a cigarette do you?”

“No, sorry. I don’t smoke.”

“That’s ok. I quit about six months ago, but I thought just one might calm my nerves. I never seen nothin’ like this in all my years drivin’ cab.”

“Why don’t you start from the beginning, and tell me exactly what happened. Go slow, and don’t leave anything out. Anything you can remember might help us figure this out.”

“Alright. Well, it’d been a slow night. I’d only had a couple of fares all evening. So I decided to drive over to the Ghost Tours to see if I could get a fare when the last ride pulled in. Most people have rentals if they’re out-of-towners, and the locals have their own cars, but every once in awhile, somebody needs a cab. Anyway, this guy sees me parked by the gate, and flags me down and says he’d like a ride back home.”

“Did he tell you where home was?”

“Before I could ask the address, he asked me if we could drive across the Bridge of Lions.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, and I didn’t think nothin’ of it. Figured he was a tourist, and he wanted to see it.”

“But the address he gave you was on Valencia. That’s a residential neighborhood. So he must be a local, right?”

“Maybe. I mean, I guess that makes sense. He never said where he was from.” “Did he seem familiar with the area at all?”

“Yeah, he seemed to know a bit about it. But nothin’ you couldn’t get from readin’ a travel brochure or talkin’ to Triple A or the chamber of commerce.”

“When you got to the bridge and you saw the drawbridge lights blinking, you must have told him there’d be a delay?”

“Yeah, and he didn’t care. Said he wasn’t in a hurry.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all.”

“So go on…..your cab is stopped on the bridge. What happened next?”

“He asks me if I mind if he gets out to stretch his legs a bit, and have a cigarette while the boat passes. And I says, go ahead. Figured he ain’t going anywhere, so why not?”

“How long was it before you heard the splash?”

“Couldn’t have been more than a minute or so. I got out of the cab – never thinkin’ – well, the splash could’ve been a fish or somethin’ tossed off the boat. I never in a million years figured a guy’d just jump off the bridge like that.”

“When did you realize he’d gone over the side?”

“I didn’t see him, and I called out, but there was no answer. Then I saw his shoes over by the edge. That’s when I knew he’d jumped.”

Davis was shaking again, and I doubted I’d get much else out of him tonight. So I decided to wind things up.

“Mr. Davis, I appreciate your cooperation. I’m going to give you one of my cards. If you can think of anything you left out, call me collect at the Jacksonville P.D. The number is at the bottom. I may be in touch with you again if I have any more questions. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need.”

“Are you feeling well enough to drive, Mr. Davis?”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m headin’ straight back to the hub. I’m done for tonight. At least the guy didn’t stiff me on the fare.”

“He paid upfront?”

“No. When I got back to the cab to call the hub to tell them what happened and to call the police, I found 50 bucks on the back seat?”

“In a wallet?”

“No, just fifty bucks. The fare wouldn’t have been anywhere near that unless he had me drivin’ all over the place. But I guess he didn’t want to leave me in the lurch. Most people wouldn’t have bothered. Did you guys need that money for evidence or somethin’? I didn’t even think to mention it to the two cops.”

“No, you can keep it. We have the shoes. Maybe we can run DNA from that if we don’t find the body so we can figure out who he is.”

“You sure? I could give you part of it?”

“Part of a fifty dollar bill?”

“He didn’t give me a fifty. He left 10 five dollar bills.”

“Ten five dollar bills?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think too much about it. If he was tourin’ some of the city, he might’ve changed out larger bills to pay for incidentals, and stuff. Maybe he was afraid of carrying big bills, too. Some people are like that. Especially when they travel.”

“Yeah, well, we still don’t know if he was a local.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Never mind. You call me if you think of anything else. Drive safe.”

And with that, I saw him back to his cab. After he pulled away, I walked back down to the black & white to see if the divers had come up yet. Billings saw me coming, and spoke first.

“Any luck detective?”

“Not much more than he told you. Are the divers up yet?”

“Yeah, just surfaced a few minutes ago. They didn’t find a thing. The currents are getting stronger, and they’re going to stop for tonight and try again first thing in the morning. But they said we shouldn’t get our hopes up. The body is probably in the middle of the Atlantic by now.”

It was too late to get anything else done by then, so I got back in my car and headed home. With a little luck I’d get a kiss when I got there instead of a cold shoulder. Tomorrow I’d be heading back to St. Augustine to try and figure out who John Doe was and why he’d want to jump off a bridge into the Atlantic Ocean.

_____

The next morning I got up early to stop by the office, and then a get a bite at the Breakfast Hut before I made the drive back to St. Augustine to resume my investigation. Terry was still up when I got back the night before, and she’d cooled off a bit when I explained what I was investigating. I’d peaked into Janie’s room, too, and watched her sleep for a few moments before closing the door again. I wasn’t seeing enough of my daughter, but one day when she resented me for it, I’d remind her that the time away from home was spent making money to buy her a cell phone, and hundreds of pairs of shoes, and a prom dress, and college tuition, and a wedding, too, probably. But I resolved not to let the balance get too far out of hand. Some guy jumps off a bridge, and I miss dinner with my wife and kid. Selfish bastard.

When I stopped by the office, I told the inspector what happened with the investigation and where I’d be that day, and what I’d be doing. He told me to check in with him after lunch and bring him up to speed. I drove over to the Breakfast Hut to get something to eat, and grab a cup of coffee to go for the trip. I wasn’t three feet inside the door when I heard my name.

“Matt! Matt Reed! Over here!”

At a table in the corner was Spencer Donohoe. I owed Spencer my job since it was his retirement a few months ago from the Jacksonville P.D. that resulted in my making detective after all those years in a squad car in Atlanta.

“Hey Spence! How are you? Good to see you!”

“You, too Matt. Sit down and let me buy you breakfast.”

“How about letting me buy for both of us? After all, I’m a working stiff, and you’re an ex-cop on a fixed income now.”

“Fair enough. How’s my old job these days? You haven’t embarrassed the department or brought any shame to the city have you?”

“Not yet. But there’s still time.”

That got a big laugh. Spence spent two weeks training me before he walked away after 32 years on the force. He made the transition to a new city and a new job much easier than it otherwise might’ve been, and I considered him a friend because of it. But it’d been at least a couple of months since I’d seen him.

“So what are you working on? Anything that might make me wish I hadn’t retired at such a young age?”

“I doubt it. Unless a suicide in St. Augustine interests you?”

“St. Augustine? What are you doing over there?”

“Ah, they’re short-staffed and the inspector sent me over there to look into a suicide. Some guy took a dive off the Bridge of Lions last night waiting for the drawbridge to close.”

I filled him in on the whole thing while we waited for the waitress to bring us some coffee.

“You know, that’s not the first suicide off that bridge. There’s a whole history of them dating back to when that bridge was first built.”

“No kidding?”

“Yeah. I remember talking to Dave Coates – he was a buddy of mine worked the St. Augie’s P.D.” –

“Just retired, right? He’s the reason I’m on this case now.”

“That’s him. Anyway, I remember he investigated a suicide off that bridge about five years ago. Teenage girl from Indiana, I think it was. Down here on vacation with her parents, and they were in a cab coming back from seeing the sights, and same thing happened. While the drawbridge was up, she got out of the cab for some fresh air, and she goes over the side. Funny coincidence.”

“You say suicides are common off that bridge?”

“Well, maybe common isn’t the right word. But there’ve been a few. There’s even an old wives tale about that bridge and the suicides that dates back to the middle 1930’s, not long after the bridge was built.”

Our breakfasts had arrived, and while we ate, Spence related to me a strange story about the history of the Bridge of Lions, and the suicides that have taken place there. I didn’t think it was more than a coincidence, but it stayed in my mind and after we finished breakfast and said our goodbyes, I headed back to St. Augustine. I thought it might be worthwhile to talk to some locals. Maybe I could find somebody who could tell me more about the bridge’s history and the legend that surrounds it.

_____

My first stop when I reached St. Augie’s was the police station. I needed to get a status report on the investigation from their end, and to find out if the divers had found the body yet. I also wanted to be sure they were combing the missing persons reports from around the area to see if anyone fitting John Doe’s sketchy description – male in his late 50’s, balding, about 6 ft., 190 (can’t be many of those around) had been reported missing. I spoke with Officers Billings and McCowan as they were about to head back to the bridge to oversee the morning dive. They’d run the missing persons reports, but had come up empty. So, I suggested they expand the search statewide. If we were looking for a local, that should turn something. If Doe was a tourist, we’d have to look nationwide. But for the moment, because of the local address, we decided to assume he was local. The shoes found on the bridge had also been sent to the lab, but those results wouldn’t likely be back for a couple of days.

I grabbed a cup of coffee, and decided to drive over to 1647 Valencia to check out the address John Doe had given the cabbie. The neighborhood was quiet, looked to be fairly well-kept, and 1647 had a sign in the front yard that read “Room For Rent”. I parked on the street, and walked past the front gate and up the steps and knocked on the door. The woman who opened it looked to be in her 70’s.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Detective Matt Reed from the Jacksonville P.D. I wonder if I could ask you some questions?” as I flashed her my badge.

“Well, certainly. What’s this all about?”

She gave her name as Joanne Devane.

“Well, ma’am, last night we had a report of a man who jumped off the Bridge of Lions and we’re trying to identify him. He was in a cab, and the cab was stopped on the bridge when he got out and jumped. The address he gave the cab driver was this one, and I wanted to see if you might be able to help us identify him? I noticed you have a room for rent. Do you take in boarders?”

“Yes I do. My son married and moved away several years ago, and my husband passed last year. I needed a little extra to live on, so my son suggested I rent the upstairs room. But my latest tenant vacated yesterday morning.”

“Can you give me a description?”

“Certainly. He was about your size, an older man, though – maybe 60, didn’t have much hair on top, and what he did have was gray. You don’t think he’s the man that jumped off the bridge, do you?”

“From your description, ma’am, he could be. What else can you tell me about him? Name, where he was from – anything at all you can remember would be helpful?”

“His name was Joseph – Joseph Anderle – no ‘y’. He told me he was from Cincinnati, Ohio, and that he was all alone, and wanted to find a place to live down here. Said he always vacationed in St. Augustine, and he’d been laid off his job in Cincinnati, and decided now was the time to move down here.”

“How long had he been here?”

“Well, let’s see...I think he moved in about four months ago. Yes, that’s right because I remember he paid me the first three months rent in advance, in cash. And then just this past week he gave me this month’s rent, and told me he’d be moving out this week. He said he’d found something more permanent. I hated to lose him. He was such a nice man. Very quiet, and polite. The perfect boarder. I hope I’m as lucky with the next one.”

“ By any chance did you run any sort of background check on him before you rented to him?”

“I called the St. Augie’s police department to make sure he had no criminal record. They didn’t have anything on him.”

“Did you call his last place of employment or the last place he rented from?”

“Well he owned a house, and told me he’d sold it. And the place he was working went out of business. So I left it at that.”

“Is there anything else you can remember? Did he ever talk about having any family – sons, daughters, a wife? Any relatives at all?”

“No he never mentioned anyone to me. We didn’t talk a lot. He wasn’t here that much. And when we did pass, we just exchanged hellos. As long as he was behaving, I left him on his own. I thought he must be all alone in the world.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Well you know how people are. They like to talk about their loved ones. They especially like to dote on their kids or grandkids.”

“I suppose so. Okay Mrs. Devane. I appreciate your help. I’m going to give you one of my cards. You can call me collect at the Jacksonville P.D. – that’s where I’m based – or give the St. Augie’s P.D. a call if you think of anything you might have forgotten. I appreciate your cooperation.”

“Certainly Detective. I hope you can get this all resolved. I sure hope that wasn’t Mr. Anderle, though. He was such a nice man. Why would anyone want to do that?”

“That’s the question I’d most like to answer Mrs. Devane. Thanks again for your help.”

Well at least now I had a name. I called the station and asked them to run Joseph Anderle through the database to see what turned up. Meanwhile, I drove over to the St. Augustine City Hall. I wanted to look through the records on the history of the Bridge of Lions, and then try to find someone who could give me some information about the bridge’s mythical history. Before I left City Hall, I also did some more checking on the city’s history.

The search of the bridge’s history was pretty standard stuff. The bridge was originally built in the late 1920’s, and then rebuilt again in 1999 after safety became a concern. If I were going to get anything else, I’d have to find a local with a long history in the city. Since St. Augustine is named after one of the great religious figures of history, the logical place to begin seemed to me to be a church. Might as well begin at the beginning - that would be The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine – established in 1565 – a church as old as the city itself.

When I arrived at The Cathedral Basilica I was awestruck by its beauty. I was raised Catholic, but I hadn’t been to church in years. But I still appreciate a beautiful church when I see one, and this one was breathtaking. Of course, the kind of help I was looking for was not the kind you usually seek in a church. But I seemed to be making progress on this beautiful Florida morning. Maybe my luck was changing?

I walked into the door marked ‘Office’ and found a receptionist who greeted me immediately and asked if she could help. I asked to speak with the church’s pastor, and she directed me down the hallway to the office of Father Paul Wills. I knocked, and Father Wills answered.

“Can I help you?”

Father Wills looked to be at least 80 if he was a day. He was dressed in black, collar on. He wore round wire rim spectacles, but still had a silver head of hair to go with a face that had more lines in it than a roadmap.

“Father, I’m Detective Matt Reed from the Jacksonville P.D. I’m in St. Augustine investigating an apparent suicide last night on the Bridge of Lions, and I have some questions about the bridge’s history and I thought I might start here since the Cathedral is as old as the city, and you’ve been the resident pastor here since the 1950’s.”

“Certainly, Mr. Reed. Please come in. I’d be happy to help in any way I can. You say there was a suicide? Was it one of my parishioners?”

“I don’t believe so, father – unless you know a Joseph Anderle?”

“Anderle. No, I don’t believe I recall an Anderle.”

“Well, Father, this is really more about a bit of history regarding that bridge that was given to me by one of my colleagues. He suggested I find someone who might be an expert on the legend of-“

He finished the sentence for me.

“The legend of the portal?”

“Well it seems I’ve come to right place.”

“Won’t you have a seat Detective? Can I have my receptionist get you a cup of coffee?”

“No, thank you Father. I’m fine. What I really want is to ask you some questions about this legend?”

“Certainly. I’m a bit of a historian, and I’ve made it my business to learn as much about the city and its history as possible. I’m an old man, Detective, but I’m afraid I don’t go back as far as when the bridge was built. But I’ve lived here all my life and the portal legend is about as old as I am.”

“Father, I have no idea if what I was told about the legend has any bearing on this suicide at all. But it might help the investigation if I knew why Mr. Anderle decided to take his own life this way.”

“Well the legend dates back to the middle 1930’s not long after the bridge was built. The story goes that a young man committed suicide off that bridge in 1936 after a young woman he wanted to marry had denied him. The young man’s mother was so distraught over it that she became convinced that her son was condemned to hell for eternity for taking his own life. The Catholic Church has long taught that killing of any kind is a mortal sin, and punishable by an eternity in hell. The bishop of the parish at the time had told her as much when she wrote him requesting his intercession in the matter. She believed if the bishop absolved the boy, he would be spared. But the bishop would not absolve him. So, she turned to a fortune teller who had a shop in the tourist district back then – a Madame Mendoza. She hoped to make contact with her son’s spirit and get him to renounce his act so that his soul might be spared. Madame Mendoza did a reading for the woman and told her that her son’s body had perished, but that his spirit – his soul – had survived and had been sucked into a portal beneath the east statue of the lion at the end of the bridge – the side that points towards the Atlantic.”

“That’s the side Mr. Anderle jumped from.”

“I’m not surprised. That’s true of all of the suicides from that bridge.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, Father. Please continue?”

“Well Madame Mendoza told the woman that the portal was a place where souls in jeopardy can escape damnation and be redeemed and accepted into heaven. She assured the woman her son’s soul had escaped into the portal, and he had found peace.”

“Where in the world did the fortune teller get that notion from?”

“That’s a question I’ve never found an answer for. In all my research, as far as I can tell, Madame Mendoza invented the legend of the portal to satisfy the woman. If she gave comfort to the woman when even her religion could not, it was far more likely the woman would pay her handsomely.”

“How did the legend get around then?”

“Word of mouth. The woman probably told everyone she knew that her son had found peace. And Madame Mendoza’s reputation only grew. She ran her business in the district until the city closed it down in a citywide crackdown of fraud in the late 1950’s. That much I do remember. I’d been here as pastor for about a year when that happened. But over the years, there had been three more suicides off that bridge under similar circumstances, and in each case, the word got around that the souls of the departed had escaped an afterlife in hell by passing through the portal. I think that God-fearing people who’d come to a place in their lives where suicide looked to be the only escape, used the legend as a means of comforting them that their decision would not lead them to hell if they jumped from that spot on the bridge.”

“Do you believe that Father?”

“Of course not, Detective. There are myths and legends, and there is religion. Different people believe different things for different reasons.”

“But how different is believing in the eternal fires of hell from believing a magic portal exists that can save your soul?”

“Are you Catholic, Detective?”

“I’m lapsed, Father, but not so lapsed that I would lie to a priest, and certainly not inside a Cathedral.”

He smiled and then asked, “So do you believe what the Catholic Church taught you?”

“You mean that if you take your own life, you’ll burn in hell? To be honest, I never thought much about it. Do you believe it Father?”

“No, I don’t. I believe in a loving and merciful God. And no God that is loving and merciful could ever condemn a suffering and lost soul or a man in such despair he would take his own life. I have no idea if your Mr. Anderle knew of the legend or whether or not he was Catholic. All I can tell you for certain is that he found great despair if he was moved to take his own life. I suspect if you keep digging, Detective Reed, you’ll find the cause of that despair, and the resolution to your investigation.”

“Can I ask you one last question, Father?”

“Certainly.”

“Had you been bishop of the parish in 1936 when the woman asked you to absolve her son, would you have absolved him?”

“I would have.“

“Even if it meant going against the church’s teachings?”

“Detective, as far as I’m concerned, no religion, and no belief system has any merit or worth if it fails to comfort someone in their time of need. People believe in things they don’t understand because they seek comfort and peace of mind. Had the bishop comforted the woman whose son had taken his life, it’s possible more lives might’ve been spared down the road.”

“That’s pretty ironic, don’t you think, Father?”

“How do you mean?”

“The bishop would’ve needed to suspend or deny his own beliefs to comfort the woman from what she had been taught that was meant to comfort her.”

Father Wills chuckled. “I never thought of it that way, but you’re absolutely right, detective.”

“Father, thank you for your time. I appreciate it very much.”

“Was I of any help at all?”

“Yes, Father, you were. I realize now that if I can understand and learn more about Mr. Anderle’s past, I’ll find the answer to why he took his own life. And if he left behind any family, maybe that will give them some comfort.”

“I hope so, detective. I hope so.”

When I reached the car I called the station to get an update. The news was all bad. The divers had turned up nothing in the waters. There was nothing from missing persons on a Joseph Anderle. And, in fact, there was no Joseph Anderle from Cincinnati either. All I had now was a John Doe that committed suicide off The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine – the fifth suicide off that bridge since 1936. Over the next few days I went back to Jacksonville, and awaited word on the DNA test on John Doe’s shoes. They’d found nothing. There was no match in the database. So there was no criminal record, and when we expanded the search for missing persons to include the entire country, and that turned up nothing, it looked as if the trail had gone cold.

_____

A couple of months later I was sitting in my office finishing up some paperwork, and getting ready to call it a day and go home to a nice dinner with my wife and daughter when my secretary buzzed me.

“Yeah, Kate. What is it?”

“Detective, there’s a private investigator that would like to speak with you.”

“What about?”

“A missing person. He’s come all the way from Indiana.”

“Indiana? Ok, send him in.”

In through the door came a short, stocky man who looked to be in his late 50’s wearing a hat and a raincoat, but with no umbrella to protect him from the thunderstorm outside. I extended my hand.

“Detective Matt Reed.”

“Thanks for seeing me, Detective. I’m Phil Chandler. I’m a P.I. from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. I’m investigating a missing persons case, and I thought maybe you might be able to help me. The St. Augustine P.D. sent me.”

“St. Augustine’s?”

“Yeah, I was there first, but they sent me to you.”

“What’s this about Mr. Chandler?”

“I’m looking for a man that went missing about eight months ago. I’m just about at the end of the line, too, and you’re my last hope. The Lawrenceburg P.D. gave up on it two months ago, and the man’s wife hired me to try and do what the police couldn’t – find out what happened to her husband.”

“Well I have to say, you’re a pretty dedicated investigator to come all this way.”

“Well I’m a friend of the family – the wife anyway – and I wanted to try and help.”

“So what connection does an Indiana missing person have with Florida?”

“I’m not really sure. I was just playing a hunch. And as I said, I’m out of places to look. The missing person is Jeffrey Allison of West Harrison, Indiana. West Harrison is a small town in southern Indiana not far from Lawrenceburg. He went missing about eight months ago. There was no evidence of foul play - which is probably why the police were ready to let it go. Allison took several thousand dollars in cash out of a retirement fund he had, and he disappeared. No one has heard from him since. I mean there’s not even a paper trail. No credit card activity. Nothing at all.”

“But you must’ve had a reason for coming all this way to look for him.”

“Well it’s a long shot, but his family use to vacation every year in St. Augustine – until about 5 years ago when they were down here on a vacation and their teenage daughter committed suicide by jumping off the Bridge of Lions. The family was very distraught over it, of course, and when I talked to Mrs. Allison, she told me her husband had never really gotten over it. They tried therapy, and he was even prescribed medication for depression, but nothing seemed to help. Anyway, when I went to St. Augustine to do some fishing on the case, the P.D. there told me you’d been here a couple of months back investigating a suicide off the Bridge of Lions. The description they had is close to Allison’s and they suggested I speak with you.”

“We never found a body, Mr. Chandler. The name we had – Joseph Anderle – turned out to be fake. None of our searches turned up a thing. Not even a DNA test. And the man we were trying to identify appeared to be from Cincinnati, Ohio. But we couldn’t even verify that. All we could verify is that our John Doe had no criminal record, and there was nobody by the name of Joseph Anderle from Cincinnati, Ohio.”

“Well, I may be out on a limb here, detective, but West Harrison is just a few miles from Cincinnati. The suicides happened at the same place and on the same day-“

“-the same day?”

“Yeah, exactly five years earlier is when Allison’s daughter jumped – according to police records on both cases. And, I just thought of this….the name you gave me has the same initials as Jeffrey Allison – J.A.”

“So you think Allison went missing because of what happened to his daughter and eight months later he does what his daughter did from, what? – grief?”

“I think it’s possible.”

“Maybe. But I don’t know. You’re making a lot of connections that might be coincidental. Anyway, there’s no way to be certain since we never found a body.”

“Well there is one thing we could do.”

“What’s that?”

“When Allison went missing, the West Harrison police sent DNA samples to the lab in Lawrenceburg in case anything was found that might be able to identify Allison. But since nothing ever was, the DNA was never tested. If we run that DNA, there’s a chance it might match the DNA from your John Doe. I mean I think it’s worth a try, don’t you?”

I had to admit, he had a point. And it was really our only chance to solve both cases. We agreed and we called the lab here in Jacksonville and asked them to send the sample up to Lawrenceburg. Two weeks later, we had our answer.

_____

“What is it Kate?”

“Detective, there’s a phone call for you on line 2 from a Phil Chandler, long distance from Indiana.”

“Thanks Kate.”

I picked up line two.

“Detective Reed?”

“Chandler? What did you find?”

“It’s a match. Jeffrey Allison was your John Doe. I don’t know what happened to him in the eight months from the time he left home till the time he jumped off the bridge, but it’s clear he never was able to come to terms with his daughter’s suicide. I just wanted to call you and let you know so you guys could close the case once and for all.”

“Thanks, Chandler. I appreciate that. I hope Mrs. Allison knows how lucky she is to have found somebody like you that would see this through. Most P.I.’s would’ve quit on it long ago.”

“Well we go back to high school together. I had to try and help.”

“How’d she take the news?”

“I’m about to head over there. I called you first – probably to give myself a little more time to work up the courage to tell her that her husband took his own life the same way her daughter did. There’s no easy way to give news like that.

“I’m curious, Chandler. Is the family Catholic?”

“As a matter of fact, they are. Why?”

I told Chandler the legend of the portal. I thought maybe it might help Mrs. Allison if she thought her daughter’s and husband’s souls had been saved by it. But it would be very small comfort in the face of unimaginable grief.

As I drove home that evening, I thought about a lot of things. I thought about my own Catholic upbringing. I thought about my wife and daughter. I thought about the things people choose to believe and why. And then I remembered something about the investigation I’d forgotten. Allison must’ve been trying to send his own message when he paid that cabdriver in five dollar bills. But it was too late to matter. I hope Allison knew the legend of the portal, and I hoped he believed it heart and soul.

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meret118 · 2 years

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The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into a tiny Illinois school district for students with disabilities to determine whether children enrolled there have been denied an appropriate education because of the “practice of referring students to law enforcement for misbehaviors.”

. . .

In recent years, Garrison administrators called the police to report student misbehavior every other school day on average, the Tribune and ProPublica found. Staff members routinely asked to press charges against the children — some as young as 9 — and officers arrested them.No other school district — not just in Illinois, but in the entire country — had a higher student arrest rate than Four Rivers, according to the most recent federal data that has been made public. That school year, 2017-18, half of all Garrison students were arrested. The school has fewer than 65 students in most years.

The Tribune-ProPublica investigation found that Garrison students had been arrested at least 100 times in the past five school years, including five students in the first 12 weeks of this school year. Officers typically handcuffed students and took them to the Jacksonville police station, where they were fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a holding cell.

#Trigger Warning #Child abuse #Ableism

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90363462 · 2 years

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who’s surprised by all this , I mean really ? 14 Times Crooked Cops Were Caught Being Racist Fools

Just when they thought they were being slick, someone exposed them.

When an officer is accused of police brutality, the consensus is that they had prior racial biases that led them to abuse or even kill a Black person.

One would think tracking down a pattern of racial bias would take a lengthy investigation. But often times, all it takes is the exposing powerhouse no one can hide from: social media.

Officers think they’re slick with cryptic messaging or spam accounts. In reality, their use of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is just the same as a regular person’s. No one is exempt from getting exposed and no one is immune from cancel culture.

Check out this list of cops who thought their racist rants would go unrevealed.

Torrance Police Officers

An investigation from the Los Angeles Timesfound a series of text messages among Torrance police officers, mocking the shooting death of a Black man. Officers shot Christopher Mitchellwithin 15 seconds of approaching him, as he surrendered with his hands in the air.

“Was going to tell you all those [N-word] family members are all pissed off in front of the station,” said one officer.

“Gun cleaning party at my house when they release my name??” another officer was found saying.

At least a dozen officers were connected to racist and homophobic text messages including the sharing of racist memes. The lawsuits against the officers costed up to $10 million.

Chicago Police Lieutenant

Just when a report from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was ready to expose him for filth, Lt. John Cannon handed in his resignation.

Per the Chicago Tribune, Cannon had a racist spam account on Facebook under the alias “Samuel Hipster.” He told investigators it was meant to be a joke but his posts were far from humorous.

One post was a meme of former president Barack Obama wearing a turban with the caption “Obama is ISIS.” Another post read “White privilege is a myth perpetuated by those who hate white people.”

He was bound to be fired anyway as COPA found him unfit to serve in the department.

Jacksonville, Florida Sergeant

Sgt. Douglas Howell is under internal investigation by the Sheriff’s office for being caught tweeting a slew of racially insensitive comments, per First Coast News.

He came for every group of color but in one 2013 tweet, he said Black people were one of America’s biggest problems. With his Twitter fingers he violated department policy by engaging in speech expressing racial bias. It’s not confirmed if the tweets are Howell’s but if they are, somebody’s gettin’ fired (Beyoncé voice).

Victorville Federal Prison Corrections Officers

A pending investigation is looking into a crazy-racist Instagram supposedly owned by a group of corrections officers at Victorville Federal Correctional Complex, per East Bay Times.

The account, “goodverbal,” had allegedly made racist, homophobic, xenophobic... everything-phobic posts about fellow guards and inmates. Some posts even joked about sexually assaulting women inmates.

The Bureau of Prisons said they can’t confirm who runs the account but when they do, criminal prosecution is on the table.

Illinois Police Officer

Springfield Police Department Officer Aaron Paul Nichols was exposed for a variety of white supremacist posts on social media, found the Huffington Post.

Nichols made jokes about killing Black and Jewish people among other obscenities like saying Hitler “did nothing wrong.” Oh, and this quote:

“N–gers ruin everything. Even if it’s White doing the stealing they’re likely selling the meat to blaq [sic] run restaurants or trading it to n—gers for dope. Real talk.”

Anonymous Comrades Collective, a group that tracks down neo-Nazis and such, reported the posts leading to an internal investigation. He ended up resigning instead of talking to investigators.

Wichita Fire Department

Capt. Keith Niemann was suspended for three days without pay after his racist WhatsApp messages were exposed, per The Wichita Eagle.

Niemann sent a photo of himself in an ugly Christmas sweater with a cartoon version of the Wardy “Woody” Joubert meme with a Christmas present covering Joubert’s crotch. “I have a big package for you,” read the sweater. He also held a mug with Joubert’s picture and a “vulgar saying.”

Another supervisor was disciplined for sending a photoshopped picture from “A Christmas Story” with Flick sticking his tongue to a Black male body part instead of a pole.

Speaking of Wichita...the SWAT Team

Racist and sexist messages between SWAT members all the way back to 2015 were found in an internal department investigation, according to AP News. One text mocked George Floyd’s death and joked about the use of excessive force.

Per the city’s report, the officers were not disciplined as they should have been and the internal investigation was mishandled. All officers are now required to attend training sessions on racial discrimination and civil rights violations.

Maryland Park Police Officers

Mark Miles of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police filed a lawsuit against his fellow colleagues after receiving a number of racist and abusive messages, per The Daily Record.

The officers joked in a group chat about starting a race war. Sgt. Stephanie Harvey was accused of proclaiming herself as a mysogynistic racist and suggesting to kill Black Lives Matter protestors.

Miles also said when he tried to speak up about the issue, he was retaliated against by his colleagues. In his complaint, he called for Harvey to be fired.

South Carolina Police Chief

Sullivan’s Island Police Chief Chris Griffin is being sued by two women who allege he sent unsolicited racist and sexist images, per The State. The women say they received around 20 messages that were “sexually explicit, racist and demeaning.”

They reported the texts to the executive director of the SC Police Chiefs Association and an investigation launched into the incident. Griffin’s membership to the association was revoked.

Briarcliffe Volunteer Fire Company

Fanita Bility, 8, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania police after her family vehicle was falsely identified in a drive-by. The Briarcliffe Volunteer Fire Company was put on a 30-day suspension when their members were found making racist comments mocking Bility, per NBC News.

Their comments were recorded in a virtual meeting that allegedly went on for two hours.

Oakland Police Officers

Nine Oakland cops were disciplined for sharing sexist and racist posts on social media, per the LA Times. Seven of the cops were suspended for 25 days. The other two had already gone to other agencies.

Their Instagram account, “crimereductionteam,” featured memes joking about police brutality, rape and other inappropriate content. Third-party investigators confiscated the work phones of 140 officers.

The district court judge hasn’t decided how to handle the Instagram scandal yet.

Michigan Police Officer

A Warren, Michigan police officer is under investigation for making extra racist Facebook comments, per WDIV 4 Detroit. The officer allegedly said Black people are the “biggest racist people in the world” and proceeded to slam our community with every stereotype possible.

The standout post was: “Glad I wasn’t born [Black]. I would kill myself.”

The department claimed an internal investigation is underway. It’s unclear if the cop, whose name was not made public, was suspended.

Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom

Per AP News, a group of Pennsylvania officers tried to be sneaky and formed a private Facebook group to talk all they trash they want.

From anti-BLM posts, slamming cops who kneeled with protesters to Blue Lives Matter polluted the page. Originally, the group talked about all the boring cop stuff. Then, it got nasty. Many of the members were from Allegheny County.

It’s unclear if the cops faced any discipline for their nonsense.

Aurora Police Officers

Four Aurora Police Department officers were fired for taking a selfie at the site where Elijah McClain died, per NPR. The officers mocked the carotid restraint Elijah was placed in, partly resulting in his death, in the photo.

The photo was shared to one of the officers charged in McClain’s death, Jason Rosenblatt, to “cheer him up.”

Rosenblatt was already fired after the incident. Two officers in the picture were also fired and the third resigned.

4 notes · View notes

weather-usa · 1 day

Text

North Carolina prepares for more as 'historic' rainfall causes widespread damage across the state

A powerful storm system unleashed "historic rainfall" across parts of North Carolina, flooding highways and leaving drivers stranded, with flash-flood watches persisting Tuesday in the state's southeastern region.

Although the storm was not organized enough to receive an official name, it dissipated by Tuesday, still delivering heavy rainfall to southeastern Virginia and prompting flash-flood watches there as well.

Weather Forecast For 32226 - Jacksonville FL

flickr

In southeastern North Carolina, the low-pressure system dumped once-in-1,000-year rainfall levels. Carolina Beach, a coastal town about 10 miles south of Wilmington, received over 18 inches of rain within 12 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Nearby towns saw over 12 inches during the same period, causing widespread road closures. Wind gusts reaching up to 77 mph also hit the coastline, according to Weather.com.

Carolina Beach and Oak Island, located about 30 miles south of Wilmington, declared states of emergency following Monday's severe flooding. The deluge caused road closures, damaged buildings, and left some residents stranded on highways. The National Weather Service warned on X that parts of Carolina Beach were submerged in at least 3 feet of water, sharing an image of a van nearly underwater.

Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee reported that the town's fire department rescued 57 people and 12 animals between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday. During the same period, police used a 5-ton truck to rescue 12 additional people, he shared on Facebook.

Some roads in North Carolina may remain closed for the "foreseeable future." The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office reported on Facebook that officials transported children home from Carolina Beach schools using high-water vehicles after buses were unable to navigate flooded roads.

The North Carolina Transportation Department indicated that several roads in the southeastern region will be shut down for an extended period. Drivers are advised to avoid the roads as crews work on emergency repairs, including multiple damaged bridges.

Some people were stranded for hours on Highway 17 outside Wilmington, while others sought refuge at an Exxon gas station along the route, according to the Wilmington Star News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

In Brunswick County, which borders Wilmington to the west, deputies and public safety personnel worked to deliver food, water, and supplies to drivers trapped by flooded roads and highways, as stated in a news release. Public schools, offices, parks, and libraries in the county will remain closed on Tuesday. An overnight curfew has been established for residents and visitors in unincorporated areas, effective until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Climate and Average Weather Year Round in 77840-College-Station-TX:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/202052657/Weather-Forecast-For-77840-College-Station-TX

Southport, a city of about 4,000 on the county's eastern coastline, reported approximately 23 inches of rain over 48 hours. During a live report from the area, AccuWeather meteorologist Aaron Jayjack witnessed a bridge collapse behind him, causing a vehicle and its driver to plunge into the water. Fortunately, bystanders rescued the man, who suffered only minor injuries, Jayjack reported during the broadcast.

Church Provides Aid to Flood Victims

Lifepoint Church in Wilmington is stepping up to assist those affected by the floods. The church has mobilized hundreds of volunteers across its four local locations to distribute essential supplies and assist uninsured residents with cleanup efforts, according to executive pastor Kevin Lloyd.

"We have several individuals who are completely displaced," Lloyd shared. "We're working closely with them to find housing."

This isn’t Lifepoint Church’s first experience with recovery efforts after a natural disaster; they actively supported the community following Hurricane Florence in 2018. The church is also collaborating with local and national organizations, such as Convoy of Hope, and is encouraging online donations that will be directed entirely toward recovery efforts.

youtube

Lloyd noted that the floods affected beach areas quickly and severely, while in other communities, "the damage from flooding didn't begin until late yesterday evening, primarily due to erosion."

In certain locations, water levels remain chest-deep, and people are relying on boats or large trucks to get around.

Until the waters recede, assessing the full extent of the damage will be challenging. "People are doing their best to salvage what they can from their homes," he explained.

Flood Warnings Issued for Florida Beaches; Northern Plains Bracing for Thunderstorms

Parts of Florida are under flood warnings, particularly along the northeastern coastline, which will remain in effect until early Wednesday morning. Beaches in the area are experiencing dangerous rip currents and rough surf of up to 6 feet, according to the Florida Times-Union, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Forecasters predict that the storm system will continue moving northward through North Carolina and into the Mid-Atlantic, causing thunderstorms and heavy rainfall until it is expected to dissipate on Wednesday.

See more:

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90061

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90062

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90063

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90064

https://weatherusa.app/zip-code/weather-90065

In the West, a "strong low pressure" system will emerge on Tuesday, advancing across the central Plains and into the Rockies. This will bring a risk of severe thunderstorms, gusty winds, and showers, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

In the northern High Plains, where the risk of thunderstorms is highest, the storm could produce isolated large hail. Northeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas, and western Nebraska may experience wind gusts exceeding 70 mph.

#youtube #forecast #weather app #usa #climate

0 notes

usastuffstates · 2 months

Text

Illinois

Chicago • 300 South Wacker • 360 Chicago Observation Deck • Anderson Shumaker • Balboa Monument • Batcolumn • Big Monster Toys • Big Smile Dental • Billy Goat Tavern • Billy Goat Tavern (at The Mart) • Billy Goat Tavern (Navy ) • Billy Goat Tavern (near United Center) • Billy Goat Tavern (Ohare Airport- Concourse C) • Billy Goat Tavern (The Original) • Billy Goat Tavern (Wrigleyville) • Bob Newhart Statue • Bohemian National Cemetery • Busy Beaver Button Co • Chicago Architecture Center • Chicago Fed Money Museum • Cloud Gate • Creative Circle • Crown Fountain • Daley Plaza • Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy • Douglas Tomb State Historic Site • Field Museum • Former 7th District Police Station • Fountain of Time • Gallagher House • Geographical Center of Chicago • Graceland Cemetery • Grant Park • Historic Begin Route 66 Sign • Hotel Lincoln - JDV by Hyatt • Hubcap Yard House • Humboldt Park • Hyde Park Hair Salon & Barber • International Museum of Surgical Science • Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art • Jack Brickhouse Memorial • John Hancock Center • Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum • Kocol Mark S • K Three Welding • L. Frank Baum Yellow Brick Road • Los Portales Mexican Restaurant • McDonald's • Merchandise Mart • Midwest Eye Center - Chicago • Monument To The Great Northern Migration • New Colony Building • Nuclear Energy Sculpture • Obama Kissing Rock • Oz Park • Ravenswood ArtWalk • Robin Williams Mural • Rosehill Cemetery • Sanchez Lab • Shit Fountain • Sims Metal Management • Skydeck Chicago • SP+ Parking • Superdawg Drive-In • Swoon • Taco Bell Cantina • Tribune Tower • Twisted Spoke • United Center • University of Chicago • Victory Gardens Theater • Walt Disney Birthplace Home • Weber Grill Restaurant • Winston's Sausages • Wolfy's • Wooly Mammoth • The Wormhole Coffee • Wrigley Field

Fox River Grove • Bettendorf Castle

Freeport • Little Cubs Field • Union Dairy

Fulton • The Dutch Oven • Heritage Canyon • Windmill Cultural Center

Galena • Belvedere Mansion • U.S. Grant Home State Historic Site • West Street Sculpture Park

Galva • Galva City Police Department

Gardner • Streetcar Diner • Two Cell Jail

Gays • Two Story Outhouse

Geneva • Chicago Soccer Academy • Fabyan Windmill • Oak Hill Cemetery • Good Templar Park Association

Glen Ellyn • College of DuPage • College of DuPage, Health and Science Center

Glenview • Abt Electronics

Granite • Chain of Rocks Bridge • Everclean Car Wash • Granite City Park District

Grayslake • Lake County Farm Bureau

Greenville • DeMoulin Museum

Gridley • Telephone Museum of Gridley

Griggsville

Gurnee • El Rancho Motel

Hartford • Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower

Harvard • Five Point Park • RavenStone Castle

Hebron • Basketball Water Tower

Herod • Gap Bar • Garden of the God's • Herod Cave Historic Site • Shawnee Bigfoot Statue

Highland Park • Giant Hawk Head and Nest

Hillsboro • Abraham Lincoln Statue Plaza

Hillside • Mount Carmel Cemetery

Hinsdale • Robert Crown Center For Health Education

Homewood

HoopPole • St. Mary of the Fields Catholic Church

Hopewell • Whispering Giant Park

Hudson • Comlara Park

Hudsonville • Hutson Memorial Park

Inverness • Village of Inverness

Iuka • Quandt's Supply

Jacksonville • Brennan HVAC

Joliet • Blues Brothers Copmobile • Dick's Towing Service Inc • First Dairy Queen Location • Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 • Liberty Meadow Estates • Old Joliet Prison • Route 66 Food n Fuel

Justice • Resurrection Cemetery

Kankakee • 5th Avenue Community Gardens • Alexander Construction and Innovative Mobile Marketing • American Legion Kankakee Post 85 • Dairy Queen

Kaskaskia • Kaskaskia Bell State Memorial

Kent • Blackhawk Battlefield Park

Kewanee

Lemont • Argonne Welcome Center Northgate

Lerna • Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site • Shiloh Cemetery • Thompson's Welding Service

Lexington • Crazy Presidential Elephant

Liberty

Libertyville • Lambs Farm

Lincoln • Hotel Lincoln Inn • Lincoln City Hall • Lincoln Watermelon Monument • The Mill Museum on Route 66 • Postville Courthouse State Historic Site • Tiny Church • The Tropics Restaurant Neon Sign

Lincolnshire • Par-King Skill Golf

Lincolnwood • Novelty Golf & Games

Livingston • Pink Elephant Antique Mall

Lockport • Lincoln Landing • Lockport Powerhouse

Loda • Loda Park

Lombard • Weber Grill Restaurant & Cooking School

Long Grove • Sock Monkey Museum

Lynnwood • Clarke's Garden Center & Stone Depot

Lyons • Chicago Portage National Historic Site

Macomb • Living Lincoln Topiary Monument

Makanda • Giant City State Park Lodge & Restaurant • Rainmaker Art Studio • Water Tower

Malta • Old School Pizza

Mapleton • Butler Haynes Pavilion • Hollis Park District

Marseilles • Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial

Marshall • 1918 Brick National Road • World's Largest Gavel

Martinsville • Martinsville Agricultural Fair • Moonshine Store

Matanzas Beach

Mattoon • Burger King (Mattoon)

McCook • Welcome To Fabulous McCook Illinois Sign

Melrose Park • Kiddieland Amusement Park Sign

Metropolis • Big John Super Foods Store • Fort Massac State Park • kryptonite rock • Lois Lane Statue • Masonic Cemetery • Massac County Courthouse Annex • The Super Museum

Midlothian • Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

Milford

Mokena • Creamery

Moline

Monmouth

Morton • Red Barn Tree Shop

Mount Carroll • Raven's Grin Inn

Mount Morris • Illinois Freedom Bell

Mt Olive • Soulsby Shell Station • Union Miners Cemetery

Mt. Pleasant • Grave of King Neptune the Pig • Trail of Tears Welcome Center

Mt. Vernon • Mt.Vernon Overhead Door

Murphysboro • Holiday Inn Express & Suites Murphysboro-Carbondale

Naperville • Central Park • Dick Tracy Statue • Highlands Elementary School • Millennium Carillon • Naperville Public Library - 95th Street Library • Naperville Public Library - Naper Blvd. Library • Naperville Public Library - Nichols Library • Naperville Train • Wrinkle Fairy

Nashville • The Traveler’s Chapel

Nauvoo • Nauvoo-Colusa Elementary/Jr High School

Newton • A-J Welding & Steel • Burl Ives Statue • Mug Tree

Niles • Booby's • Leaning Tower YMCA • Niles Veteran's Memorial Waterfall • President Abraham Lincoln bench • Veterans Memorial Monument Nilwood • Turkey Tracks on Route 66

Normal • Carl's Ice Cream Factory • Sprague's Super Service Station

Norridge • Westlawn Cemetery & Mausoleum

North Aurora • Scott's Vintage & Antiques

North Riverside • Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care

Norway • Norwegian Settlers State Memorial

Oak Brook • Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center

Oak Forest • King Heating and Air Conditioning

Oak Lawn • Cardinal Liquor Barn Inc

Odell • Standard Oil of Illinois Gas Station

Oglesby • The Rootbeer Stand • Starved Rock State Park

Olney • Olney Chamber of Commerce • Olney City Park • The Repair Shop

Oquawka • Norma Jean, Circus Elephant Monument

Oregon • Lowden State Park • Lowden State Park Campground • Oregon Park East

Ottawa • Ho-Ma-Shjah-Nah-Zhee-Ga Indian Monument • Lincoln-Douglas Park • Ottawa Avenue Cemetery • Remembering the Radium Girls • Shoe Tree • Volvo at Carling Motors Co. Limited

Palatine • Ahlgrim Family Funeral Services

Pana • Giant Hand with Painted Nails

Park Forest • Chinese House @ 428 N. Orchard Drive • Park Forest Rail Fan Park

Pekin • Double D's Soft Serve

Peoria Heights • Heights Tower

Peoria • C.T. Gabbert Remodeling & Construction • Neal Auto Parts • Peoria Plaza Tire • Peoria Riverfront Museum • Richard Pryor statue by Preston Jackson • Wheels O' Time Museum Paris • Sapp Bros. Travel Center

Peru

Petersburg • Oakland Cemetery

Piasa • Southwestern Middle School

Plainfield • Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202

Plano • Smallville Superfest

Pontiac • Burma Shave Signs • Livingston County War Museum • Route 66 Association of Illinois • Route 66 decommissioned Illinois State police headquarter

Port Byron • Will B. Rolling Statue

Princeton • Owen Lovejoy House • Red Covered Bridge

Quincy • St Peters Cemetery

Rantoul • Chanute Air Force Base (Decommissioned) • Hardy's Reindeer Ranch • Rantoul National Aviation Center Airport-Frank Elliott Field

Rend Lake • Rend Lake Golf Course Restaurant & Banquet

River Grove • Hala Kahiki Lounge

Riverdale • Riverdale, IL Water Tower

Roanoke

Rochelle • Vince's Pizza & Family Restaurant

Rock Island • Black Hawk State Historic Site • Chippiannock Cemetery • Rock Island Arsenal

Rockford • Beyer Peaches Stadium • Lockwood Park & Trailside Equestrian Centre • Midway Village Museum • Rock Men

Rolling Meadows • Rolling Meadows Park District Headquarters

Romeoville • White Fence Farm Main Restaurant

Rondout

Roscoe • Historic Auto Attractions

Roselle • Mark Drug Pharmacy and Home Health

Rosemont • Rosemont Water Tower Russell • Russell Military Museum

Salem • Pollard Motors

Sandwich • Bull Moose Bar & Grille • Sandwich City Hall • Sandwich Opera House

Savanna • Savanna Army Depot

Schaumburg • Al Larson Prairie Center For the Arts • Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament • Weber Grill Restaurant & Cooking School

Scott AFB • Scott Field Heritage Air Park

Seneca • LST Memorial Public Boat Launch

Shelbyville • Mobile Wedding Chapel & Wedding Ceremony • Shelby County Courthouse

Silvis • Hero Street Monument Committee

South Barrington • Goebbert's Farm - South Barrington

South Elgin • Fox Valley Trolley Museum

Springfield • 1908 Race Riot Memorial • Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum • Ace Sign Co • Capitol Complex Visitors Center • County Market • Cozy Dog Drive In • Derringer Auto Care • Dumb Records • Illinois State Capitol • Illinois State Fairground • Illinois State Military Museum • Lauterbach Tire & Auto Service • Lincoln Monument Association • Mahan Filling Station • Oak Ridge Cemetery • Pearson Museum • Shea's Gas Station Museum • Southeast High School • Springfield Amtrak Station • Young Lincoln Mural

St. Anne • St. Anne Caboose

St. Charles • Ghoulish Mortals

St. Elmo • Driftstone Pueblo

Staunton • Henrys Rabbit Ranch

Stewardson • Moomaw Truck Alignment INC. Stickney • Mt. Auburn Cemetery

Stockton • Bottle Shed Bar & Pizzaria

Stone Park • Casa Italia

Streamwood • Spirit of America Car Wash

Streator • Canteen Monument • Pluto Coffee and Tea • Schultz Monument Co

Summit • Argo Community High School

Sycamore • Statue of Mr. Pumpkin

Tampico • Ronald Reagan's Birthplace

Taylorville • Christian County Circuit Clerk • Oak Hill Cemetery

Teutopolis • Monastery Museum

Towanda • Dead Man's Curve

Troy Grove • Wild Bill Hickok State Memorial

Union • Illinois Railway Museum

University Park • Governors State University

Urbana • Natural History Building • U of I Pollinatarium • University of Illinois Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Vandalia • Jay's Inn • Kaskaskia Dragon • Vandalia City Hall • Vandalia Statehouse State Historic Site

Vienna • Big Boys Bar & Grill

Villa Park • Safari Land

Volo • Jurassic Gardens • The Party Barn at Volo Museum • Volo Museum • Volo Museum Auto Sales

Wadsworth • Gold Pyramid

Wapella • Prairie Built Barns Wapella

Washington • Lincoln Statue “Return Visit” Washington Park • Eddie's

Watseka • Smiley Face Water Tower

Waukegan • Club Tiki Bar & Video Slots • Waukegan Public Library • Waukegan Roofing | TPO Commercial Flat Roof Repair & Replacement

Wedron

Wenona • Coal Mine Car Monument

Westport • Lincoln Trail State Memorial

Wheaton • Armerding Center for Music and Arts • Billy Graham Museum • Jack T. Knuepfer County Administration Building • Wheaton College • Wheaton College Marion E Wade Center • Wheaton College Observatory (IL) • Wheaton Windmill Wheeling • Superdawg Drive-In

Whitehall

Willow Hill • Mound Cemetery

Willowbrook • Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket

Wilmette • Bahá'í House of Worship

Wilmington

Winnetka

Woodlawn

Woodridge • Hollywood Blvd Cinema

Woodstock • Royal Victorian Manor • Shoe Tree

Worth • Ball Fore Miniature Golf

0 notes

beardedmrbean · 3 months

Text

Jacksonville, Florida, rapper Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones, was shot and killed Sunday morning in Tampa, his lawyer confirmed.

Police were called to a hotel in uptown Tampa a few hours before sunrise, having received reports of a shooting at the address. Upon arriving at the scene, they found two vehicles that had been shot at in the parking lot.

One person, now identified as Jones, was pronounced dead, according to the Tampa Police Department. Three additional victims are in stable condition and being treated at the hospital.

Police said officers are still investigating the motive for the shooting and working to identify individuals involved.

Jones was celebrating his birthday the night of his fatal shooting, according to footage he posted on his Instagram story. The 26-year-old rapper, who had 1 million followers on the platform, shared a video advertising a pool party Saturday evening. He told his followers to direct-message him for the address.

Later that night, he posted that police had “shut us down and kicked us out” of their Airbnb.

His lawyer Lewis Fusco wrote in a statement that Jones then relocated to a Holiday Inn, where he was reportedly ambushed in the parking lot.

“Best birthday everrrr 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 appreciate everybody who pulled up we turnt up till we couldn’t nomo,” Jones wrote in another Instagram story just a few hours before the shooting. “We otw to the show now yall pull-up.”

In April, when announcing the release of his latest album, “Resurrection,” Jones also posted that he had already survived “MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ON MY LIFE.”

Jones, who had nearly 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of his shooting, had been making music since 2015.

#nunyas news

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ausetkmt · 1 year

Text

Months before a gunman fired a swastika-covered rifle at Black shoppers in a Jacksonville, Florida Dollar General on Saturday, a white supremacist group spray-painted its logo and “reclaim America” on a city billboard.

A different white supremacist group posted racist stickers around Jacksonville months before that. Weeks earlier, a third white supremacist group projected a swastika onto a Jacksonville building, following a fourth white supremacist group that also used a laser projector to beam its own antisemitic message onto a Jacksonville building in late 2022.

Neo-Nazi Group Leader ‘Unbothered’ After Arrest in GeorgiaBEHIND BARSFletcher Peters

Saturday’s mass shooting, by a white gunman reported to have penned racist manifestos, was the latest incident in a drumbeat of racist violence targeting Jacksonville. Some of those displays have been “brazen,” part of an effort to terrorize minority communities in Florida, human rights organizations say.

“It is deeply disheartening that our Black communities live in constant fear of being targeted based on the color of their skin, unable to shop at their local store without the threat of violence,” the NAACP’s Jacksonville branch said in a statement. “It is particularly poignant that this event occurred on the anniversary of the mass shooting at the Jacksonville Landing five years ago and on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.”

Jacksonville is no stranger to racist attacks. Saturday’s mass shooting came one day before the 63rd anniversary of “Ax Handle Saturday,” an incident that saw approximately 200 white attackers descend on an anti-segregation protest in a Jacksonville park, where they bludgeoned the mostly Black demonstrators with baseball bats and ax handles.

In recent years, Jacksonville—and Florida as a whole—have seen a new surge in racist activity, data suggests. The Anti-Defamation League has recorded a multi-year upswing in Florida hate crimes, Jacksonville’s News4Jax reported in September.

Florida also ranked eighth on the ADL’s list of states with the highest levels of racist propaganda distribution in 2022. Some of that hate came from a cluster of new hate groups, like a Florida-based chapter of the antisemitic “Goyim Defense League” and the Jacksonville-based neo-Nazi group “NatSoc Florida.”

Both groups have used projectors to beam swastikas and antisemitic slogans on Jacksonville buildings in recent months. And leaders of both groups were stopped by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department last October while holding antisemitic banners above a Jacksonville highway. First Coast News reported that the leader of the GDL was questioned because he was flying a drone over the road, in violation of Federal Aviation Administration rules.

According to a police report, no one was arrested, but police “thanked the group for their cooperation and apologized for taking up so much time of Mr. Nunes [NSF leader Josh Nunes] and Mr. Minadeo [GDL leader Jon Minadeo].”

“Some people say that some of the rhetoric that we hear doesn’t really represent what’s in people’s hearts, it’s just the game. It’s just the political game. Those three people who lost their lives, that’s not a game.”

— Mayor Donna Deegan

After Saturday’s mass shooting, civil rights groups were quick to note neo-Nazis’ intimidation tactics in the city.

“This occurred after an uptick in brazen public displays of antisemitism from the Goyim Defense League in Jacksonville made headlines in recent months,” Western States Center, which tracks extremism in the U.S., said in a statement.

During a Sunday memorial service for the victims of the shooting, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan connected the attack to past racism—and new campaigns to stifle civil rights.

“It feels some days like we’re going backward,” Deegan said. “I’ve heard some people say that some of the rhetoric that we hear doesn’t really represent what’s in people’s hearts, it’s just the game. It’s just the political game. Those three people who lost their lives, that’s not a game.”

The rise in overt bigotry comes amid new laws that limit how Florida educators can teach about race and racism. Those policies led the NAACP to issue a travel advisory to Florida earlier this year.

“Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” the organization said in a May statement. “Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color."

#Neo-Nazis Repeatedly Targeted Jacksonville Before Mass Shooting

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littletittie · 2 months

Text

Illinois

Fox River Grove • Bettendorf Castle

Freeport • Little Cubs Field • Union Dairy

Fulton • The Dutch Oven • Heritage Canyon • Windmill Cultural Center

Galena • Belvedere Mansion • U.S. Grant Home State Historic Site • West Street Sculpture Park

Galva • Galva City Police Department

Gardner • Streetcar Diner • Two Cell Jail

Gays • Two Story Outhouse

Geneva • Chicago Soccer Academy • Fabyan Windmill • Oak Hill Cemetery • Good Templar Park Association

Glen Ellyn • College of DuPage • College of DuPage, Health and Science Center

Glenview • Abt Electronics

Granite • Chain of Rocks Bridge • Everclean Car Wash • Granite City Park District

Grayslake • Lake County Farm Bureau

Greenville • DeMoulin Museum

Gridley • Telephone Museum of Gridley

Griggsville

Gurnee • El Rancho Motel

Hartford • Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower

Harvard • Five Point Park • RavenStone Castle

Hebron • Basketball Water Tower

Herod • Gap Bar • Garden of the God's • Herod Cave Historic Site • Shawnee Bigfoot Statue

Highland Park • Giant Hawk Head and Nest

Hillsboro • Abraham Lincoln Statue Plaza

Hillside • Mount Carmel Cemetery

Hinsdale • Robert Crown Center For Health Education

Homewood

HoopPole • St. Mary of the Fields Catholic Church

Hopewell • Whispering Giant Park

Hudson • Comlara Park

Hudsonville • Hutson Memorial Park

Inverness • Village of Inverness

Iuka • Quandt's Supply

Jacksonville • Brennan HVAC

Justice • Resurrection Cemetery

Kankakee • 5th Avenue Community Gardens • Alexander Construction and Innovative Mobile Marketing • American Legion Kankakee Post 85 • Dairy Queen

Kaskaskia • Kaskaskia Bell State Memorial

Kent • Blackhawk Battlefield Park

Kewanee

Lemont • Argonne Welcome Center Northgate

Lerna • Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site • Shiloh Cemetery • Thompson's Welding Service

Lexington • Crazy Presidential Elephant

Liberty

Libertyville • Lambs Farm

Lincolnshire • Par-King Skill Golf

Lincolnwood • Novelty Golf & Games

Livingston • Pink Elephant Antique Mall

Lockport • Lincoln Landing • Lockport Powerhouse

Loda • Loda Park

Lombard • Weber Grill Restaurant & Cooking School

Long Grove • Sock Monkey Museum

Lynnwood • Clarke's Garden Center & Stone Depot

Lyons • Chicago Portage National Historic Site

Macomb • Living Lincoln Topiary Monument

Makanda • Giant City State Park Lodge & Restaurant • Rainmaker Art Studio • Water Tower

Malta • Old School Pizza

Mapleton • Butler Haynes Pavilion • Hollis Park District

Marseilles • Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial

Marshall • 1918 Brick National Road • World's Largest Gavel

Martinsville • Martinsville Agricultural Fair • Moonshine Store

Matanzas Beach

Mattoon • Burger King (Mattoon)

McCook • Welcome To Fabulous McCook Illinois Sign

Melrose Park • Kiddieland Amusement Park Sign

Metropolis • Big John Super Foods Store • Fort Massac State Park • kryptonite rock • Lois Lane Statue • Masonic Cemetery • Massac County Courthouse Annex • The Super Museum

Midlothian • Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

Milford

Mokena • Creamery

Moline

Monmouth

Morton • Red Barn Tree Shop

Mount Carroll • Raven's Grin Inn

Mount Morris • Illinois Freedom Bell

Mt Olive • Soulsby Shell Station • Union Miners Cemetery

Mt. Pleasant • Grave of King Neptune the Pig • Trail of Tears Welcome Center

Mt. Vernon • Mt.Vernon Overhead Door

Murphysboro • Holiday Inn Express & Suites Murphysboro-Carbondale

Nashville • The Traveler’s Chapel

Nauvoo • Nauvoo-Colusa Elementary/Jr High School

Newton • A-J Welding & Steel • Burl Ives Statue • Mug Tree

Niles • Booby's • Leaning Tower YMCA • Niles Veteran's Memorial Waterfall • President Abraham Lincoln bench • Veterans Memorial Monument Nilwood • Turkey Tracks on Route 66

Normal • Carl's Ice Cream Factory • Sprague's Super Service Station

Norridge • Westlawn Cemetery & Mausoleum

North Aurora • Scott's Vintage & Antiques

North Riverside • Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care

Norway • Norwegian Settlers State Memorial

Oak Brook • Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center

Oak Forest • King Heating and Air Conditioning

Oak Lawn • Cardinal Liquor Barn Inc

Odell • Standard Oil of Illinois Gas Station

Oglesby • The Rootbeer Stand • Starved Rock State Park

Olney • Olney Chamber of Commerce • Olney City Park • The Repair Shop

Oquawka • Norma Jean, Circus Elephant Monument

Oregon • Lowden State Park • Lowden State Park Campground • Oregon Park East

Ottawa • Ho-Ma-Shjah-Nah-Zhee-Ga Indian Monument • Lincoln-Douglas Park • Ottawa Avenue Cemetery • Remembering the Radium Girls • Shoe Tree • Volvo at Carling Motors Co. Limited

Palatine • Ahlgrim Family Funeral Services

Pana • Giant Hand with Painted Nails

Park Forest • Chinese House @ 428 N. Orchard Drive • Park Forest Rail Fan Park

Pekin • Double D's Soft Serve

Peoria Heights • Heights Tower

Peru

Petersburg • Oakland Cemetery

Piasa • Southwestern Middle School

Plainfield • Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202

Plano • Smallville Superfest

Pontiac • Burma Shave Signs • Livingston County War Museum • Route 66 Association of Illinois • Route 66 decommissioned Illinois State police headquarter

Port Byron • Will B. Rolling Statue

Princeton • Owen Lovejoy House • Red Covered Bridge

Quincy • St Peters Cemetery

Rantoul • Chanute Air Force Base (Decommissioned) • Hardy's Reindeer Ranch • Rantoul National Aviation Center Airport-Frank Elliott Field

Rend Lake • Rend Lake Golf Course Restaurant & Banquet

River Grove • Hala Kahiki Lounge

Riverdale • Riverdale, IL Water Tower

Roanoke

Rochelle • Vince's Pizza & Family Restaurant

Rock Island • Black Hawk State Historic Site • Chippiannock Cemetery • Rock Island Arsenal

Rockford • Beyer Peaches Stadium • Lockwood Park & Trailside Equestrian Centre • Midway Village Museum • Rock Men

Rolling Meadows • Rolling Meadows Park District Headquarters

Romeoville • White Fence Farm Main Restaurant

Rondout

Roscoe • Historic Auto Attractions

Roselle • Mark Drug Pharmacy and Home Health

Rosemont • Rosemont Water Tower Russell • Russell Military Museum

Salem • Pollard Motors

Sandwich • Bull Moose Bar & Grille • Sandwich City Hall • Sandwich Opera House

Savanna • Savanna Army Depot

Schaumburg • Al Larson Prairie Center For the Arts • Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament • Weber Grill Restaurant & Cooking School

Scott AFB • Scott Field Heritage Air Park

Seneca • LST Memorial Public Boat Launch

Shelbyville • Mobile Wedding Chapel & Wedding Ceremony • Shelby County Courthouse

Silvis • Hero Street Monument Committee

South Barrington • Goebbert's Farm - South Barrington

South Elgin • Fox Valley Trolley Museum

St. Anne • St. Anne Caboose

St. Charles • Ghoulish Mortals

St. Elmo • Driftstone Pueblo

Staunton • Henrys Rabbit Ranch

Stewardson • Moomaw Truck Alignment INC. Stickney • Mt. Auburn Cemetery

Stockton • Bottle Shed Bar & Pizzaria

Stone Park • Casa Italia

Streamwood • Spirit of America Car Wash

Streator • Canteen Monument • Pluto Coffee and Tea • Schultz Monument Co

Summit • Argo Community High School

Sycamore • Statue of Mr. Pumpkin

Tampico • Ronald Reagan's Birthplace

Taylorville • Christian County Circuit Clerk • Oak Hill Cemetery

Teutopolis • Monastery Museum

Towanda • Dead Man's Curve

Troy Grove • Wild Bill Hickok State Memorial

Union • Illinois Railway Museum

University Park • Governors State University

Urbana • Natural History Building • U of I Pollinatarium • University of Illinois Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Vandalia • Jay's Inn • Kaskaskia Dragon • Vandalia City Hall • Vandalia Statehouse State Historic Site

Vienna • Big Boys Bar & Grill

Villa Park • Safari Land

Volo • Jurassic Gardens • The Party Barn at Volo Museum • Volo Museum • Volo Museum Auto Sales

Wadsworth • Gold Pyramid

Wapella • Prairie Built Barns Wapella

Washington • Lincoln Statue “Return Visit” Washington Park • Eddie's

Watseka • Smiley Face Water Tower

Waukegan • Club Tiki Bar & Video Slots • Waukegan Public Library • Waukegan Roofing | TPO Commercial Flat Roof Repair & Replacement

Wedron

Wenona • Coal Mine Car Monument

Westport • Lincoln Trail State Memorial

Whitehall

Willow Hill • Mound Cemetery

Willowbrook • Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket

Wilmette • Bahá'í House of Worship

Wilmington

Winnetka

Woodlawn

Woodridge • Hollywood Blvd Cinema

Woodstock • Royal Victorian Manor • Shoe Tree

Worth • Ball Fore Miniature Golf

0 notes