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Peña-Garza apparent victor for Hidalgo County Republican Party chair

Adrienne Peña-Garza appears to have bested Lina Garza in the race for Hidalgo County Republican Party chair, according to Hidalgo County’s unofficial Election Day results. The race was not close as Peña-Garza took the lead with 7,316 votes to Garza’s 4,217. Close to 63% of the vote went toward Peña-Garza and 37% in Garza’s favor. These are unofficial results until canvassed by the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court.

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Majority say race was factor in how those who attacked Capitol were treated - CBS News poll

A majority of Americans (54%) — and particularly Democrats and Black Americans — believe race was a factor in how law enforcement treated those who attacked the Capitol last week. Most Republicans don't feel race was a factor, a view that differs from the majority of Democrats and independents who feel it was. Three-quarters of Black Americans think those who forced their way into the Capitol received different treatment because most were White. Opinions of White Americans on this are strongly related to partisanship. Most White Democrats (83%) agree with Black Americans, and feel the mostly-White protesters were treated differently.

cbsnews.com

Projection: US Sen. John Cornyn wins reelection in Texas

HOUSTON – Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has won reelection in Texas, according to a projection by NBC News. The Senate race in Texas has a former candidate for the U.S. House vying for a seat that has been held by the incumbent for 18 years. Cornyn won his seat in 2002 and is facing military veteran MJ Hegar as his Democratic challenger. Hegar issued the following statement after her defeat:“I’m not a career politician, running for U.S. Senate was never my plan. I am confident that the work we did will move our state forward for years to come.”You can follow live results for this race below.

SFA hands over investigation to DA’s office while asking Evans’ family to agree to release the bodycam video of incident

SFA also claimed that they are awaiting permission from Evans' family to release body camera video that they said will show police acted “professional." According to Harris, the SFA officers' guns were not drawn or pointed, and that the room was dark. Harris said the university cannot release the video without the permission of Evans and her family. “(We) call on the Evans' family to join us by agreeing to release the bodycam video of the incident,” she said. However, Evans' attorney Randall Kallinen said SFA has not allowed Evans, the family or himself to view the video while simultaneously seeking to release the video for the public and media.

‘Something wrong was done’: Civil rights experts, lawyer explain racial implications of SFA incident

Evans' family called the incident a racist set-up based on lies made to police by white students. SFA police chief John Fields said there are 11 females involved: seven is white, three is Black and one is Hispanic. It’s more students doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “My heart goes out to the innocent young lady the victim, in this case, this case of false reporting,” said SFA President Scott Gordon. This is a very serious matter and those students need to be expelled,” SFA President Kallinen said.

SFA president says students who filed false police report against Black student broke code of conduct, possibly law

HOUSTON – The president of Stephen F. Austin University said the group of students who filed a false police report against a Black freshman student that led to campus police storming the teen’s dorm room with guns drawn, broke the student code of conduct and possibly the law. The attorney for 17-year-old Christin Evans says she was the victim of a racist set-up, orchestrated by her white roommates. In a late Monday tweet, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Adam Peck said a student “conduct process is already underway. Filing a false report violates the SFA Code of Conduct and potentially the law as well. We will not have this at SFA," Gordon wrote in the statement.

Alvin HS football coach resigns after players say he used n-word, racial slurs before game

HOUSTON – An Alvin High School football coach resigned Thursday after players said he used the n-word and other racial slurs before a game. Just hours before last Friday night’s football game, two Alvin High School football players said a coach used derogatory terms they won’t soon forget. “I told him that wasn’t cool and then he told me, ‘Do I want to play?’ I just start walking away. A spokeswoman for the Alvin Independent School District said the school district has launched an investigation and a staff member has been placed on administrative leave, though the district did not name the employee. They work hard and they go to practice every day and for him to downgrade them like that it’s just horrible,” said April Bell, the players' mother.

SFA campus police storm Black student’s dorm with guns drawn after Houston family says white students made false claims

It has made me really paranoid,” said 17-year-old Christin Evans. Kallinen says the teen’s three white roommates, along with as many as seven other girls, initiated the “swatting” by telling their resident assistant that Evans was trying to attack them. “The university is investigating a racially diverse group of students in an incident involving a false report to the university police department. Christin Evans' parents said the majority of the students involved in the incident are white. “I was looking forward to making friends and having a good time on the cheer team, but since this has happened, it’s made it really, really hard,” she said, holding back tears.

Gov. Greg Abbott calls for new crimes, mandatory jail time for certain offenses related to protests

Greg Abbott issued a string of new legislative proposals to raise penalties and create new crimes for offenses committed at protests. Abbott’s proposals would create felony-level offenses for causing injury or destroying property during what is deemed to be a “riot.” Blocking hospital entrances and using lasers to target police would also be felony offenses, Abbott said. Striking an officer with something like a water bottle would lead to a mandatory minimum of six months in jail. Many protesters in Texas have been arrested on suspicion of such offenses since protests erupted in May after the death of George Floyd. DeSantis' proposal also created new crimes and enhanced penalties like Abbott’s proposal, including a mandatory six months in jail for striking an officer.

2 Louisville officers shot amid Breonna Taylor protests

Police move after a Louisville Police officer was shot, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. A grand jury has indicted one officer on criminal charges six months after Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police in Kentucky. He says the officers were shot after investigating reports of gunfire at an intersection where there was a large crowd. Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers who entered her home during a narcotics investigation. State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that while the officers had a no-knock warrant, the investigation showed they announced themselves before entering. ___This story has been updated to clarify that, according to the investigation, officers did not execute the warrant as a no-knock warrant, not that they didn’t use a no-knock warrant.

Police cancel vacations, prepare for Kentucky AG’s decision on whether or not to charge officers in Breonna Taylor’s death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville, Kentucky, police said Monday that they had canceled vacations and were setting up barricades in preparation for the state attorney general’s announcement about whether he will charge officers in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death. “It is important to note that (Cameron) has said there is no timetable for the announcement,” the statement added. “When the investigation concludes and a decision is made, we will provide an update about an announcement,” he said. Celebrities, athletes, activists and Taylor’s family have for months pushed Cameron to criminally charge the officers involved in the raid. Last week, the city of Louisville settled a lawsuit from Taylor’s family for $12 million and pledged several police reforms as part of the agreement.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, accused in killing of protesters listed in ‘hero’ assignment at Dallas ISD high school

DALLAS – A Dallas school district is investigating a high school English teacher who asked students to write about a modern-day hero and listed the 17-year-old accused of killing two people during Wisconsin protests as one possible option. Kyle Rittenhouse has been accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding another in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The writing assignment also listed Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the protesters Rittenhouse is accused of killing; along with Mahatma Gandhi, César Chávez, Malcolm X and George Floyd. The Dallas Independent School District did not release the name of the W. T. White High School teacher who assigned the report. In a statement, the district said: “An unapproved assignment posted in Google Classroom yesterday has been brought to our attention.

In crackdown on violent protesters, Justice Dept. says federal sedition charge may be applied

Neither was a man accused of shooting and killing a demonstrator in Louisville following the death of Breonna Taylor. Demonstrations have slowed, though not necessarily because of the federal charges. Carroll accused federal authorities of using the cases to try to make the protests seem more violent and disruptive than they really were. “There is absolutely an agenda here to blow these out of proportion, make these look more serious or more sinister than it is,” Barnett said of the pursuit of federal charges. “This is the Justice Department, from the top, furthering an agenda that has nothing to do with justice,” he said.

Michigan Catholic priest compared BLM to 9/11 attackers

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) – The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in suburban Detroit is apologizing after a fellow priest likened Black Lives Matter to the people responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Bob McCabe of the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn said on Facebook. “As your pastor, I want to assure you that at Divine Child we love and respect all persons. Graney said it’s “very good” that BLM’s website says it works for justice for Blacks, but that’s where his praise ended. And they would have done it if they could,” said Graney, who has been a priest since 2016.

After Needville HS senior asked to remove Black Lives Matter mask, parents and students cry foul

HOUSTON A ban on Black Lives Matter face masks at Needville High School has some parents and students accusing the school and district of bias and silencing students trying to express their first amendment rights to free speech. She says she questioned his rationale and asked why other students are allowed to wear masks that say Trump on them, apparently in support of President Donald Trump. The Needville Independent School District did not answer KPRC 2s specific questions regarding students being allowed to wear Trump masks. When a student wore a Black Lives Matter face mask, that student was told the same thing that face mask was not permitted. The district recognizes that it is important to provide students with guidance regarding what face masks are permitted and which are not.

Dallas' 1st Black female police chief to step down Nov. 10

DALLAS U. Rene Hall, the first Black woman to lead the Dallas police force, has submitted her resignation effective Nov. 10, the city announced Tuesday. Hall's resignation letter, which the city provided to The Associated Press, didn't give a reason for stepping down. She wrote that Dallas police have dealt with an unthinkable series of events since she took office in 2017. Hall said shes proud of how the department coped and implemented critical reforms." Halls resignation letter hints that she will continue police work but says shes keeping her next steps confidential.

ACLU warns 500 Texas school districts to revise discriminatory dress codes

This same policy sparked national debate when it was used to punish two Texas students earlier this year for wearing their natural hair in dreadlocks. “While school districts throughout the country have removed policies that were based on antiquated sex stereotypes, many school districts in Texas still have policies that treat students differently on the basis of their gender,” Brian Klosterboer, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a written statement. “School districts need to conform to federal law and fix outdated policies that cause serious harm to students in Texas,” Klosterboer added. Bradford can return to his former high school for his junior year without the threat of suspension. The ACLU’s letter to the districts includes a copy of Arnold’s court case and dress code guidance from the Texas Association of School Boards.

Debate over defunding the Houston Police Department heats up after Austin slashes budget

Many of these calls have coalesced into a “defund the police” movement in cities across the country, including in Houston. “We’re talking about making sure there’s money in programs where it’s needed,” said Ashton Woods, the head of Black Lives Matter Houston. Dr. James Douglas, President of the Houston NAACP, wants to see HPD spend its money differently. “Just arresting people alone is not going to reduce crime,” he said. When we asked Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for his thoughts, he said he believes the budget is in line with the city’s needs.

New non-profit focuses on reaching survivors of domestic violence in Houston’s minority communities

HOUSTON – A new non-profit organization opened its doors in May and is working to reach more survivors of domestic violence in Houston’s minority communities. “What we’ve always known is minorities are disproportionally impacted by domestic violence,” said Carvana Cloud. She herself grew up in Acres Homes and experienced domestic violence as a child. You can also contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by using the discreet online chat function on its website or by calling 1−800−799−7233. In our series “Stronger Houston,” we examine issues impacting people inequitably by race, gender, income, age, geography, religion, and other factors.

Bridging digital divide imperative to help at-risk Black and Latino teens as COVID-19 widens inequities, experts say

Hes enrolled in The Urban Enrichment Institute, an extra-curricular youth leadership and development program for young men deemed at-risk, located in one of Houstons poorest communities. The program was founded in 1984 with a mission to reach young boys in Fifth Ward. In our summer program, this was the first time we had the chance to initiate a virtual learning format with our summer program, Savage said. We start seeing differences in how African American and Latinx boys are performing in school, how they are treated in school. Have a space for all the stakeholders that are focused on Latinx and African American male youth, said Dr. Smith.

WATCH: Self-proclaimed Florida white supremacist attacks bartender during racist tirade

NOKOMIS, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida bartender is on the mend following a violent attack. The entire incident was captured on camera by a bystander outside Pop’s Sunset Grill in Nokomis, Florida on FridayCell phone video shows a man identified by deputies as 36-year-old Nicholas Schock shirtless while on a racially-fueled rant outside the restaurant. As the scene evolved, the video shows Schock approach a female bartender and suddenly hit her twice in the face. Witnesses told deputies the impact of the strikes made the woman lose consciousness. “She seemed fine for a little while and then she started becoming ill and showing signs of a concussion.

Missouri City councilmembers to hear public comments on street signs linked to KKK, Confederacy

HOUSTON – Missouri City councilmembers will hold a public meeting Monday evening to discuss offensive and racially-insensitive street signs in the city. Some of the signs in question are said to be named after Confederate leaders and a founding member of the Ku Klux Klan. The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. and councilmembers will listen to comments for or against an ordinance to establish regulations for the naming of streets in the city. If you want to make a public comment on this issue, you can sign up here before 4 p.m. Monday. You can also watch a live stream of the meeting here.

George Floyds family gathers in Virginia to unveil hologram

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The family of George Floyd witnessed the unveiling of a hologram in Virginia Tuesday night, where flickering lights came together to create an image of Floyd's head and shoulders transposed over the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue. The event in Richmond on historic Monument Avenue was the first public unveiling of the George Floyd Hologram Memorial Project. The Richmond-Times Dispatch reported that the project's week-long tour will take it to a number of cities in North Carolina and Georgia mirroring the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides. The hologram features a myriad of lights that swarm like fireflies to form into a 3-D image of Floyd, with his name depicted around his image. The tour is organized by Change.org and The George Floyd Foundation.

Navy vet beaten by federal agents: 'They came out to fight'

SALEM, Ore. – The Navy veteran stands passively in Portland, Oregon, amid swirling tear gas. One protester was arrested after allegedly assaulting a federal officer with a hammer. Some were snatched off the streets by the federal officers and stuffed into unmarked vehicles. He put on a sweatshirt with “Navy” emblazoned across the chest and a Navy ballcap, figuring the federal officers would be, like him, a military veteran. The federal officers, in full tactical gear, came charging out of the federal building.

How the Black Lives Matter generation remembers John Lewis

In this June 7, 2020 photo provided by the Executive Office of District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, John Lewis looks over a section of 16th Street that's been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington. In one of his last public appearances, he posed for a picture in June, standing on the Black Lives Matter Plaza mural painted just outside of the White House amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd. For the Black Lives Matter generation, the connection to Lewis is deeper than many may realize. And I just kept thinking to myself, do not let John Lewis down. Congressman John Lewis encouraged me to see the power in stories about our people and our fight for freedom.___Morrison is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team.

'Black Lives' mural outside Trump Tower defaced for 3rd time

New York Police Department officers attempt to detain a protester who defaced with black paint the Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue Saturday, July 18, 2020, in the Manhattan borough of New York. The Black Lives Matter street mural in front of Manhattans Trump Tower has been defaced with paint for the third time in a week. In the latest incident, two women were arrested around 3 p.m. Saturday after police said they poured black paint on the block-long mural outside Trump Tower on Manhattans chic Fifth Avenue. Meanwhile, police are continuing to look for a man in black shorts and a dark blue T-shirt who was seen splashing red paint on the Black Lives Matter mural around noon on Monday. Mayor Bill de Blasio helped paint the mural in front of President Donald Trumps namesake tower last week.

Black Lives Matter billboard placed next to Confederate flag

A Black Lives Matter billboard is seen next to a Confederate flag in Pittsboro, N.C., Thursday, July 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)A Black Lives Matter sign now fills a billboard next to a big Confederate flag that greets people coming into a small town outside Raleigh, thrilling some community organizers and angering the property owner. “Friends called and asked if they could put a Confederate flag on my property," White said. He says they did it “because the county commissioners had removed the Confederate statue.”White has leased the billboard to Lamar Advertising, which sent representatives to notify him before putting up the Black Lives Matter sign on it. “They wanted to know how I would react to it, and I told them I would not want a Black Lives Matter sign on that billboard,” he said.

Statue of Black UK protester removed from plinth in Bristol

The sculpture of protester Jen Reid was installed without the knowledge or consent of Bristol City Council and was removed by the council 24 hours later. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)LONDON Officials in the English city of Bristol on Thursday removed a statue of a Black Lives Matter activist that was installed on a plinth once occupied by a monument to a 17th-century slave trader. City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration. Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said the decision about what replaces it must be made by the people of Bristol. This is not about taking down a statue of Jen, who is a very impressive woman, Rees told the BBC.

Statue of Black protester replaces toppled UK slave trader

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)LONDON An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol once occupied by the toppled statue of a slave trader. Marc Quinn created the likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the plinth after demonstrators pulled down the statue of Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristols harbor on June 7. The statue, titled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) was erected before dawn on Wednesday without approval from city officials. Colston was a 17th-century trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas. Now were crystallizing it.Reid told The Guardian newspaper that the new statue was incredible and would help continue the conversation.City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Michael B. Jordan wants you to view a drive-in movie, on him

FILE - In this July, 26, 2019 photo, actor and producer Michael B. Jordan poses for a portrait during the 2019 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jordan has partnered with Amazon Studios for A Night at the Drive-In that will bring diverse films to drive-in theaters for free screenings. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)NEW YORK For Michael B. Jordan, timing is everything. So when the SAG award winner marched in a Los Angeles Black Lives Matter protest last month demanding that Hollywood drastically increase its diversity in the executive ranks, it was a moment he felt prepared for. Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said the partnership falls into the companys efforts to support social justice initiatives. What were doing right now while we have the energy and the momentum, lets continue to keep the conversation pushing forward, Jordan said.

Protest in Pennsylvania after cop uses knee to restrain man

"Not even two months after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, there was a knee on the neck of a man in front of a hospital. The videotaped incident occurred nearly seven weeks after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the neck of Floyd, a Black man, for nearly eight minutes. An officer had his elbow on the mans neck before switching to a knee to hold him down while other officers restrained his arms. Shortly after, the other officer put his knee on the man's head and neck. An earlier police statement said the man had begun to yell and spit at officers and hospital staff, adding the man was noncompliant which required officers to restrain him.

Tucker Carlson’s top writer resigns after secretly posting racist and sexist remarks in online forum

Neff wrote, "I wouldn't get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no." On June 5, Neff wrote, "Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down." During the years that Neff wrote for him at Fox, Carlson has hosted one of the most influential shows on cable news. In August 2019, a user started a thread titled, "We should just buy Canada and kick the Canadians out." On the afternoon of July 1, Neff started a thread titled, "Two GOP senators propose replacing Columbus Day w/Juneteenth."

Homeland Security gets new role under Trump monument order

Some are also facing off against federal officers whose presence reflects President Donald Trump's decision to make cracking down on violent mayhem a federal priority. Once we surged federal law enforcement officers to Portland, the agitators quickly got the message, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. I dont have authority to order federal officers to do things, Davis said. It does complicate things for us.The DHS officers presence comes at an incredibly tense moment for Portland. A former DHS official said BORTAC agents were viewed as highly trained, valuable, scarce resources and would typically be used for domestic law enforcement in extraordinary circumstances.

MLS returns to action after poignant moment of silence

(AP Photo/John Raoux)KISSIMMEE, Fla. Nearly 200 players took the field for an 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence to protest racial injustice before Major League Soccers return to action Wednesday night. Players wore black T-shirts, black gloves and black facemasks emblazoned with Black Lives Matter. The shirts had varying slogans that included Black And Proud, Silence Is Violence and Black All The Time. The group was formerly called the Black Players Coalition of MLS but changed its name this week to Black Players for Change. MLS players had weeks to decide what to do prior to the MLS is Back tournament at ESPNs Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World.

Mayor helps paint 'Black Lives Matter' outside Trump Tower

Mayor Bill de Blasio, third from left, participates in painting Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower, Thursday, July 9, 2020, in New York. Al Sharpton as he helped paint the racial justice rallying cry in giant yellow letters on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower. Our streets!When we say Black Lives Matter, there is no more American statement, there is no more patriotic statement because there is no America without Black America, de Blasio said. We are acknowledging the truth of ourselves as Americans by saying Black Lives Matter. We are righting a wrong.The mayor announced the plan to paint Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower last month after earlier saying the slogan would be painted on streets at several locations around the city. Trump lived in Trump Tower before he took office as president but has spent little time there since.

Exhausted cities face another challenge: a surge in violence

Still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and street protests over the police killing of Floyd, exhausted cities around the nation are facing yet another challenge: A surge in recent shootings has left dozens dead, including young children. The recent spasm of violence was captured in a New York Post headline about a crime-ravaged city crying out for help. Davon was murdered after a string of BLM (Black Lives Matter) violence on the Fourth of July," it read. Seventeen people were fatally shot in Chicago and 70 wounded, one of the bloodiest holiday weekends in memory there. Of all the things they are likely to be worried about, COVID is way down the list.___Long reported from Washington.

Formula 1 season starts 4 months later in a different world

Four months after the opening race was called off amid last-minute pandemonium the Formula One season finally gets underway this weekend in Austria. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)SPIELBERG Four months after the opening race was called off at the last minute, the Formula One season finally gets underway this weekend on another continent and in a different-looking world. It is so important that we seize this moment, said Hamilton, the only Black driver to become F1 champion. F1 still hopes to rearrange some of the postponed races in order to finish the season with 15-18 of the scheduled 22. The 22-year-old Verstappen showed last season that he is closing the gap to Hamilton in terms of wheel-to-wheel driving.

Ertz, Short say soul-searching led to vulnerability on field

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)Chicago Red Stars teammates Julie Ertz and Casey Short say hard conversations over the past several weeks led to their vulnerability in the moment they shared an emotional embrace while they knelt during the national anthem as the NWSL opened its season. Short sobbed as she was held by Ertz before Chicago's match against the Washington Spirit on Saturday night, the second game of the National Women's Soccer League tournament in Utah. Currently, every time the national anthem is played, our country continues to become more and more divided on what the visual symbol of unity looks like, Short and Ertz said in a joint statement they released Tuesday. Often these opinions are presented through the individuals lens and do not accurately portray how the two of us truly feel, Short and Ertz said. The NWSL players association released a statement in support of all players, no matter their decision.

Greece: Plan to rein in protests triggers protests

Protesters take part in a rally in favor of migrants who live in Greece, in Athens, on Saturday, June 20, 2020. Some hundreds of protesters marched against the possible discontinuation of a migrants' housing program which will leave thousands without a place to stay. But political opponents say they plan to defeat the proposals with mass demonstrations. Under draft legislation submitted to parliament late Monday, participation in a protest rally held without police permission could be punishable by up to a year in prison. A labor union backed by the Greek Communist Party said it planned to organize mass rallies against the proposals.