Source: Mario Tama / Getty President Donald Trump was a harsh critic of the so-called Central Park Five , five teens who were accused of a heinous attack on a jogger in Central Park 30 years ago. Despite evidence clearing the men of the crime and an admission of guilt from the man who carried out the act, Trump refuses to give an apology to the men who now call themselves the “Exonerated Five.” Deadline reports : When asked today by White House correspondent April Ryan if he would apologize to the five men who were falsely accused of a brutal rape, but were later completely exonerated, Trump asked Ryan, “Why do you bring that question up now? It’s an interesting time to bring it up.” Trump continued, “You have people on both sides of that. They admitted their guilt. If you look at Linda Fairstein, and you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city should never have settled that case. So we’ll leave it at that.” Trump in 1989 bought full page ads in New York City newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York following the arrest of the five then-teens ― four of whom were black and one Hispanic ― in connection with the rape of a white jogger in Central Park. The horrific tale of abuse and injustice suffered by the Exonerated Five was detailed in grand detail via Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us series on Netflix. The director responded to President Trump’s comments, which can be viewed below. pic.twitter.com/lcAnZjNWRM — Ava DuVernay (@ava) June 19, 2019 — Photo: Getty
Source: Handout / Getty Donald Trump Refuses To Apologize To Central Park 5 At this point, it’s been well-publicized that Donald Trump once took out a full-page ad in four NYC newspapers calling for the death penalty for the 5 then-boys, Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson, Anton McCray, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, who were charged and convicted of raping a woman in Central Park. View this post on Instagram Mr. President @realdonaldtrump will you apologize to the Central Park Five? Posted @withrepost • @realdlhughley #This #TeamDl A post shared by April D. Ryan (@adr1600) on Jun 18, 2019 at 3:45am PDT Just minutes ago, White House correspondent April Ryan asked the President if he plans on apologizing for taking out those ads since the five men have been exonerated and the real rapist has fully confessed to the crime. His response shouldn’t surprise you, you’ve heard it before… POTUS tells @AprilDRyan he will not apologize for taking out a full page ad calling for the men known as the Central Park Five to get the death penalty. He says people on “both sides” confessed. The men were exonerated via DNA evidence. pic.twitter.com/BXvd4nIzXq — Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 18, 2019 Yup. You heard right. “Both sides” is back. Can’t the Secret Service take a day off? Just one day, that’s all it would take.
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty 5 Netflix Picks That’ll Get You Out Of A Serious Slump The world is still reeling from what we all saw when we watched Ava DuVernay’s recently released masterpiece, When They See Us . The all-too-familiar story about the Central Park 5 was presented to us with more information, more emotion, and more grit than ever before–causing outrage, anger, and every other possible emotion for the poor young men who suffered the consequences of a crime they didn’t commit. When They See Us is more than necessary, but even so, it’s still hard to watch the reenactments of just how seriously these unassuming teenagers were taken advantage of and wrongfully punished. With that being said, sometimes the only thing we want after watching something so draining is something more light-hearted to take our mind off of the terrible things still going on in this world. Here are five picks to add to your Netflix queue for the next time you watch something painfully heavy and need some balance in your life. 1. Always Be My Maybe View this post on Instagram If you haven’t watched #AlwaysBeMyMaybe yet, I suggest you get to it tonight before all your co-workers discuss the big spoiler at work tomorrow! A post shared by Ali Wong (@aliwong) on Jun 2, 2019 at 10:20pm PDT “Childhood sweethearts have a falling out and don’t speak for 15 years, only reconnecting as adults when Sasha runs into Marcus in San Francisco. Although the old sparks are still there, the couple live in different worlds.” Always Be My Maybe is the epitome of a light-hearted, funny movie that just puts you in a good mood! If you just watched something heavy, or even if you’re just feeling down because of some other reason, this should be your number one pick. 2. Good Girls View this post on Instagram Some light gardening or a crime scene cover up? #GoodGirls A post shared by Good Girls (@nbcgoodgirls) on May 6, 2019 at 12:00pm PDT “When sisters Beth and Annie and their best friend Ruby become fed up with playing by the rules and not getting the respect they deserve, they band together to take control of their lives — by holding up a local grocery store. In desperate need of money, the women plan the heist expecting to ease their financial burdens. But new to the game of crime, they get pulled in deeper than they ever imagined — and the only way out of this will be together.” You might think a show about moms-turned-criminals is pretty heavy, but I promise you, it’s not. Good Girls is the perfect mix of action and comedy and you’ll probably get through all of season 1 on Netflix in a night or two. 3. Dead To Me View this post on Instagram Did we just fall in love? (fun fact: that's dreamy actor @brandonoscott actually singing!) A post shared by Dead to Me (@deadtome) on May 18, 2019 at 10:30am PDT “Jen’s husband recently died in a hit-and-run, and the sardonic widow is determined to solve the crime. Optimistic free spirit Judy has recently suffered a tragic loss of her own. The ladies meet at a support group and, despite their polar-opposite personalities, become unlikely friends. As the women bond over bottles of wine and a shared affinity for “The Facts of Life,” Judy tries to shield Jen from a shocking secret that could destroy her life as she knows it.” Okay, so this isn’t the lightest show in the world, but the dark comedy will suck you in and be sure to get you out of even the lowest slump. 4. Jailbirds View this post on Instagram Congrats to @44_blue whose new series #jailbirds is officially the No. 1 Reality Show on @netflixuk, and No. 5 in their list of Most Watched Shows this week! #jailbirdsnetflix #numberone A post shared by Red Arrow Studios (@redarrowstudios) on May 23, 2019 at 10:31am PDT “Jailbirds is a documentary television series about inmates at the Sacramento County Jail.” This show is….crazy. If anything, the things you see going on in this jail will take your mind off of whatever you’ve got going on just from how wild these people and their antics are. 5. Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee View this post on Instagram Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only @realtracymorgan. A post shared by Jerry Seinfeld (@jerryseinfeld) on Jul 15, 2018 at 6:59am PDT “Comic Jerry Seinfeld is the creator, executive producer and host of this unique series that features vintage cars, funny conversations and a lot of caffeine. Jerry picks up each guest in a special car and heads to a cafe or restaurant. While the guests are typically comics, one episode features a drive around the White House grounds with President Barack Obama in a 1963 Chevy Corvette Stingray.” Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is the definition of light-hearted. With guests like President Obama and Tracy Morgan, there’s an episode for just about everybody–and there’s nothing better than seeing two comedians tell jokes back and forth for a good 30 minutes.
Source: Prince Williams / Getty Clermont Twin To Serve One Year For Raiding Dead Man’s Bank Account The reality and social media star who admitted she stole about $20,000 from the bank account of a deceased man to fund her highflying social media lifestyle has started her sentence in connection with the case. Shannade Clermont, 25, turned herself in June 4 to the Dublin Federal Correctional Institute outside of Oakland, CA, according to public records obtained by BOSSIP. The prison is for about 1,200 female inmates deemed a low-security risk, and has a prison camp next door. Clermont admitted to financing her lifestyle in part with the debit card of a man she met on a “prostitution date,” attempting to spend some $20,000 in fraudulent charges like rent, designer clothing and electronics. A judge later blasted her for a “lack of character” before sentencing her to a year behind bars. Federal lockup records stated that her release date was “unknown.” Other famous inmates at FCI Dublin have included heiress Patty Hearst and Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss. Clermont’s mugshot hasn’t been made public because of privacy concerns, according to a spokesman for the Bureau of Prisons.
View this post on Instagram Any age is the right age to get healthy & fit. Start now with my sexy body program. Download my workout app NicoleMurphyfitness.com only $9 a month. #fitat51 #stayfit #shape #healthy #fitness #nicolemurphy. Photo by @krishphotos #nicolemurphyfitness #adidas A post shared by Nicole Murphy (@nikimurphy) on Jun 1, 2019 at 12:11pm PDT In case you forgot, Nicole Murphy is one of the baddest baddies of all time. Sure she’s a bit older now, but that doesn’t mean a single damn thing. she’s still out here killing the game. Remember how Shannon Sharpe has been on TV lusting over her for months on end. The above pic is one of the snackiest pics she’s ever put out. View this post on Instagram #tbt me as cat-woman #meow #catwoman #nicolemurphy A post shared by Nicole Murphy (@nikimurphy) on May 9, 2019 at 8:57pm PDT So isn’t this a perfect time to give you some of the baddest pics in her catalogue. Take a look…
Source: Roberto Machado Noa / Getty 96% Of Sagging Pants Arrests In Shreveport Have Been Black Men Since 2007 Look, we get it. Some people truly abhor seeing men walk around a$$ed out with their pants sagging below their waist, but this is f***ing ridiculous. According to Shreveport Times , ever since ordinance 50-167 was passed into law in 2007, a law prohibiting sagging pants in public, there have been 726 arrests made. Of those 726, 699 of them are Black men in comparison to the 12 white men arrested. That’s right, 12. Additionally, 13 Black women were arrested for this crime in comparison to 1 white woman. This means that 98% of the people placed into the criminal justice system behind this law are Black, 96% are Black men. Tuesday, City Councilwoman LeVette Fuller proposed to abolish the law prohibiting the public wearing of pants below the waist, exposing the skin or undergarments. At least three national news outlets reported on the proposal in connection with the death of Anthony Childs that occurred during an officer-involved shooting. For those unaware, Anthony Childs was shot at eight times by a cop, SPD Officer Traveion Brooks, three of those shots hit him. A reported self-inflicted shot to the chest ultimately killed Childs. The officer was trying to stop Childs because his pants were sagging. This law is racist as HELL.
Source: KONTROLAB / GettyVirgi Disgruntle Employee Opened Fire During Virginia Beach Mass Shooting According to CNN , authorities have confirmed at least 12 people were killed and six injured in a Virginia mass shooting . The incident reportedly took place at around 4 p.m. Friday at the Public Works building of Virginia Beach’s Municipal Center. Police chief James Cervera told reporters the gunman, an employee, was also killed in addition to the 11 victims. Cervera reported that the suspect was shooting at employees “indiscriminately” inside the building. Officer returned fire and killed the gunman. His motive is currently unclear, but it has been reported to Virginia police that he was a “disgruntled employee.” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told reporters: “This is just a horrific day. And a lot of people are on the scene here,” “Just our thoughts are for the victims and families. We’re working with our law enforcement, first responders, our folks at the hospital and just making sure we take care of everybody right now.” Multiple agencies, including the FBI, are assisting the investigation.
Source: Netflix / Netflix Ava Duvernay was just a teenager when five young Black boys, from Harlem, were arrested and convicted for the rape of a white woman in Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. So when Raymond Santana, one of the “Central Park 5” sent her a wishful tweet about bringing the Central Park 5 story to the screen, “it meant a lot” to her, she revealed to NPR . Ava and Netflix’s When They See Us chronicles the events of the Central Park Five case that captivated the nation. The four-part series will span 25 years, taking on the wrongful conviction of the boys, as well as highlight their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014. Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Jr., Kevin Richardson and Korey Wise were beaten upon arrest, forced into making false confessions and convicted of a crime they did not commit. They served seven years in prison and were later exonerated only to have a convicted murderer, who was serving a life sentence, eventually confess to the crime. Their story is perfectly aligned with Duvernay’s mission to raise awareness around the injustices of the prison industrial system, which she explored in her critically acclaimed documentary the 13th. When They See Us stars a stellar cast Michael K. Williams, John Leguizamo, Niecy Nash and Blair Underwood, who opened up to us about this role in the series. “My character’s name is Robert Burns and I play the defense attorney to one of the, no longer Central Park 5, the Exonerated 5,” he says making a clear distinction. Burns comes into action in the second hour of the four-hour series. According to Underwood, his character isn’t necessarily “a huge part” of the limited series. Albiet small, the emotional toll of a role like this can’t be underestimated. “Ava did something I’ve never seen on any project I’ve done. She made a grief counselor available to everyone on the set,” Underwood revealed in a candid conversation. “They were up and running by the time I came to set and I’d get e-mails from production that would say this is a very tough material. It’s emotional and it dredges up so much in all of us. Especially the young boys recreating these emotions. To be able to say here’s the person to contact if you need any grief counseling is amazing. It’s apart of what we do. It’s our job as actors to bring those emotions to the forefront and let it manifest. People deal with it different ways.” Underwood said he took several walks to connect with nature after filming. “It’s very deep themes. The thing with this story is there is no distance from history to separate then and now. There’s 30 years logistically but emotionally, how far we’ve come? Theres very little daylight.” When They See Us is on Netflix now. RELATED STORIES: Ava Duvernay, Spike Lee ‘More Of Black Hollywood Recreate The Iconic ‘Great Day In Harlem’ Portrait Secure The Bag! Ava DuVernay Tapped To Direct DC Comics Movie ‘The New Gods’ CBS Picks Up Ava DuVernay’s Drama Pilot ‘Red Line’
Source: Paul Morigi / Getty W e now know what happened in the park that night in April 1989. A gruesome crime. The police and city roaring with anger. They rounded up all the Black and brown youths in the park they could find. They forced them to talk, despite all evidence to the contrary, about a grizzly happening they hadn’t committed. Their names are Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusuf Salaam, and Korey Wise. They had a lawyer named Robert Burns, who — in director, writer, and documentarian Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us — is played by the always neatly spooled Blair Underwood. History, ours and America’s, is as alive as we are. History walks with us. It speaks to us as we wonder how events in the present have come to be. It aligns us: through memory, through DNA, through culture. It weds itself to our perceptions. It twists evidence, where damp grass only so wide now finds itself a cesspool big enough for five bodies instead of one. The Central Park Five is a part of that history. They are children of that history. They bear the scars of American selfishness, its intolerance, its admittedly complex sense of grandeur and its self. New York City has an outsized presence in that self. In that way, it embodies the worst of America’s campaign to turn Black people into its shadow. The Central Park Five have a Sarah and Ken Burns documentary in their shadow. But Ava DuVernay has unearthed this story to tell it differently—for Netflix, of course, because for who else? And for love, because for what else? When They See Us , then, is as dramatic as American history. Somehow, as the title suggests, Black people are without form until, suddenly, they come into view trying to survive through roiling waters in New Orleans or hanging large through New York City’s monumental patch of green. Then, before your eyes, children become hardened criminals. Humans aching to survive become pariahs. To help bring this harrowing tale to life, Blair Underwood had to embody the role of a man who was in way over his head and ill at the time of the trial. Salaam didn’t know this at the time, but his lawyer was on medication, which would explain why he’d nod off during the trial at times. Why he’d ramble at points. Bobby Burns would die soon after the trial ended. He was more Salaam’s family friend than a crack-pot attorney, but in trying times all Salaam’s mother knew was to try. CASSIUS: What did you know about the five before you were cast? Blair Underwood: I knew the broad strokes of the case. I knew a white, female jogger had been brutally assaulted, beaten, and raped. I knew that five young Black and brown boys –– four African-American, one Latino, were accused of it. And I knew there was a rush to judgment. I knew that days later Donald Trump had taken a number of full-page ads out calling for the death penalty of these young boys–– literally within days. Before any trial. Before any facts came out. Before any notion of due process. Those were broad strokes that I knew. So when I came to the project, I had an opportunity to do a deep dive into the attorney for Yusuf Salaam (Bobby Burns), to really learn about the specificity of the case and the lack of evidence. [To learn about] the complexity of having videotaped confessions coerced and also being falsely accused and eventually being exonerated. But what these four one-hour films bring is the opportunity to dig deep and delve into their personal lives. [It] makes you feel the injustice, even more, this miscarriage of justice even more. C: Why do you think this case was such a large datapoint in New York City and American history? BU: First you had a brutal crime. And brutal crimes happen all the time, but you had the brutal crime of a white woman. So, you inject and have the confluence of race because you have five Black and brown boys. That’s what you have to remember. They were boys. They were children. They were 14, 15, 16-years-old. They were accused of doing this crime. And this was in the midst of many crimes around Central Park. So this did not happen in a vacuum. People were afraid. People were scared. And somebody did that crime, we found out later because a guy who was a serial rapist around uptown manhattan confessed to it. And then again you have a high profile real-estate magnate like Donald Trump at the time calling for the death of children. That’s what he was calling for. To bring back the death penalty with no facts on hand of who did it. And we have to remember there were a crime and an injustice. And the meaning of justice is to have a balance of right and wrong, good and bad, and the understanding of that and the administering of justice. That’s why I love the title of this film When They See Us. The inference is When They See Us , not always, but too often people fear when they see men of color. But the double entendre is When They See Us in the film they can see us for who we really are. You got me preachin’ this morning, brother! [Laughs] C: As someone with children, did you have to bury the anger that comes with seeing children put in harm’s way or did you use it for the role? BU: I don’t think you bury it. I don’t think you bury any of those emotions. In fact, our jobs as actors, our jobs as artists, and our job as storytellers is to bring those emotions and thoughts and fragility and weaknesses and strengths –– all of that which makes up our humanity to the character. I think you have to. But that’s a general statement. Particularly to my character, Robert Burns was a family friend to Yusuf Salaam. He was actually Yusuf Salaam’s mother’s divorce attorney. So he really was in over his head when it came to the case. He’d actually never done a criminal case as he was a divorce attorney. But they had a certain amount of trust in him and had a certain amount of loyalty to him. Legally, I’m sure they could have made better choices, but he gave them a sense of calm and comfort when he was on the case. C: What kind of research did you do that helped you embody Robert Burns? BU: Most helpful, after Ava gave us all a dossier on the case, was talking to Yusuf Salaam and seeing how he saw Robert Burns. And he saw him as a kind of father figure. And Robert Burns, by all accounts, felt the same way towards him and very much wanted to protect him. Regardless of his experience as an attorney, he wanted to protect him as best he could and the Salaam family trusted him. C: I know this is a naive question, but what do you think made everyone involved so quick to condemn these children in the way they did? BU: Well that is the topic of conversation in the news every day now. The othering of people. Demonizing, vilifying those that are different than us. We hear that from the high prophets of the land and we really have to fight against that and try to find our commonality. So that’s a big question. There’s a lot to how we got to this point in our country and the way race relations are. Listen, I’m a hopeful person and I see hope in the future generations. I see hope in your generation and in the future generations because you look at race relations in this country and those people who are trying to turn the clock back, that’s a losing game. C: If this case happened today, do you think there would have been a similar miscarriage of justice or do you think we’d have been more thoughtful as a society toward them? BU: [Laughs] I would say there would be an attempt to have the same miscarriage of justice. I don’t think it would work as easily, if at all. You think about what has changed since then and, yes, there’s social media, but [there’s] also that we’re all photojournalists. We all have cameras, computers in the palm of our hands. Most people in a metropolis like New York City have phones. It doesn’t change things completely, sure, if you look at [the case of] Eric Garner, for example, but it makes it a little more difficult for those doing things to get away with it. It doesn’t stop it, but it’s another tool in the arsenal. So, yeah, I think there are definitely those people who would like to keep the status quo. Keep all the Black and brown people in their place. But those days are gone.
Source: PETER PARKS / Getty Suspect Reportedly Kills Pregnant Teen Then Forcibly Removes Her Child A tragic and grotesque act went down in Chicago that’s surely sent shockwaves into the community. According to the Chicago Sun-Times , police suspect a Southwest Side lady lured a young pregnant mother into her home right before the pregnant woman was killed and the child was cut from her body. According to authorities, a body was found in a garbage can on early Wednesday in the suspected woman’s backyard. The body turned out to be that of the pregnant woman, Marlen Ochoa-Lopez. She was reported missing three weeks ago. Authorities say she was strangled to death and they ruled her death a homicide. Family and friends of Ochoa-Lopez said she met the 46-year-old suspected killer on Facebook. The woman reportedly got 19-year-old Ochoa-Lopez to come to her home in the Scottsdale neighborhood by offering her extra baby clothes for her unborn son. Hours after Ochoa-Lopez was last seen on April 23, the older woman phoned 911 for help, saying she had just given birth to the boy inside the home. The suspect then had the nerve to say she was suffering from “post-delivery issues,” according to a police source. Sara Walker, a student pastor at Lincoln United Methodist Church, has been helping the missing teen’s family communicate with police. Walker said the 46-year-old woman later set up a GoFundMe page to raise $9,000 for her baby’s funeral, claiming the baby boy was sick and about to die. An anonymous tip eventually caused detectives to check the parentage of the baby using saliva from the missing woman’s husband, Yiovanni Lopez, and hair samples from Ochoa-Lopez’s place. DNA tests proved that the child belonged to Ochoa-Lopez and her husband. A pregnant woman gone missing. A Facebook group for young mothers. Now police are investigating how a simple request for baby clothes may have spiraled out of control. https://t.co/WDPKbRlZZU — Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 16, 2019 The baby is currently in the hospital in “grave condition,” according to the police source. Chief spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, Anthony Guglielmi, said that four “persons of interest” were in custody surrounding Ochoa-Lopez’s death and the “incident involving the baby.” Sources claim charges are expected to be filed against the 46-year-old woman.
