Washington (AFP) This week America was rocked by the brutal assassination of Tyre Nichols. A 29-year-old black man was killed during a traffic stop by an elite police force of five black police officers. His punch in Memphis, Tennessee was seen across the country through a series of video footage.
Nichols was buried Wednesday at a funeral attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, who condemned the deadly “violence.”
Also this week, we take a look at the unbelievable story of a former congressman. Republican-elected George Santos has made headlines with his impressive biography.
He claimed to be the descendant of a Holocaust survivor who went from a college volleyball star to a Wall Street investor and philanthropic boss. But none of this was true, a New York Times investigation found.
After unraveling his web of lies, Santos refuses to resign. Meanwhile, Republican leaders refuse to interfere because they refuse to lose their majority seats in the House.
In the United States, the nonprofit PEN America has described an “unprecedented number of book bans” in the past year.
In the latest report, he identified more than 2,500 cases nationwide in the 2021-22 school year. This is because more and more school librarians are sharing their experiences of harassment and pressure to ban books.
When Vice President Kamala Harris was called to the pulpit at Tyre Nichols’ funeral, she said the White House would settle for ambitious federal legislation to tackle police brutality.
“We shouldn’t hold back. And we won’t be denied,” Harris applauded in Memphis, Tennessee. “This is non-negotiable.”
But back in Washington, progress looks difficult, if not unlikely. Efforts to reach a bipartisan agreement on police law stalled more than a year before President Joe Biden instead signed an executive order naming George Floyd. George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officers nearly three years before he ignited nationwide protests.
With a new murder headline now, Biden and Harris will meet with members of Congress’ black caucus on Thursday to consider the possibility of getting the bill off the ground.
Representative Stephen Horsford (D-Nevada), who will serve as Speaker, said:
The White House is under renewed pressure to push the issue, and even some political allies are frustrated by overly vigilantism on Biden’s part.
“I think the president is missing an opportunity to be a historic president on social issues that continue to plague our country,” Repp said. Jamal Bowman, D-N.Y. “I need that.”
Mr. Bowman described Mr. Biden as “in many ways someone who sticks to the status quo,” and said Mr. Biden must be “someone who adheres to a new vision of America.”
