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Police Arrest 3 Suspects in Connection With Shooting of 5 Black Lives Matter Activists in Minneapolis

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Police Arrest 3 Suspects in Connection With Shooting of 5 Black Lives Matter Activists in Minneapolis

Nearly 1,000 people marched to City Hall on Tuesday, less than a day after five protesters were shot near a Black Lives Matter demonstration, an apparently racially motivated attack that pushed Minneapolis into the national spotlight.

Minneapolis police said Tuesday that they have arrested three men in connection with the shooting. Allen Lawrence “Lance” Scarsella III, 23, was arrested in Bloomington. Sources said Nathan Gustavsson, 21, of Hermantown, and Daniel Macey, 26, of Pine City, were taken into custody after they turned themselves in. All three suspects are white. Earlier Tuesday, police arrested a 32-year-old Hispanic man in south Minneapolis, but he was later released because, police said, he was not at the scene of the shooting.

Authorities are weighing whether to treat Monday’s shooting as a hate crime, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

In a video message posted on Facebook, Mayor Betsy Hodges said she “abhors” Monday night’s violence and that “those attacks have no place in our city.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau on Twitter called the officers “true professionals” and noted that “MPD worked nonstop through the night to bring justice in last night’s shooting.” She did not comment further on the shooting Tuesday.

The gunfire erupted around 10:45 p.m. Monday on Morgan Avenue N. about a block north of the precinct station where protesters have staged demonstrations and camped out since Nov. 15, when police fatally shot Jamar Clark, an unarmed 24-year-old black man.

Miski Noor, a media contact for Black Lives Matter, said “a group of white supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights.”

When about a dozen protesters attempted to herd the group away from the area, Noor said, they “opened fire on about six protesters,” hitting five of them. The victims — all black men ages 19 through 43 — were taken to local hospitals. Their injuries were not life threatening.

Rallies continue

In Minneapolis, protesters gathered Tuesday afternoon outside the Fourth Precinct to reiterate demands for justice in Clark’s death and commit to staying at their encampment.

 One of the Monday shooting victims returned to the scene, leaning heavily on a cane. Wesley Martin said he was shot after he and a group of others chased the suspected gunmen toward an alley off Morgan Avenue.

“I’ve been out here every night since it started, and you know when people look suspicious,” Martin said.

The bullet ripped through his right knee, Martin said. He said his 19-year-old friend Teven King was also shot, in the stomach.

As Martin spoke, his cousin Leroy Williams nodded in agreement. Williams said one of Clark’s nephews, Cameron Clark, 24, was among the shooting victims.

By 3 p.m., a crowd of about 1,000 marchers with banners headed to City Hall, pausing at Clark’s makeshift memorial on Plymouth Avenue along the way.

The shooting appeared to draw new supporters to the cause.

Felicia Washington Sy, a psychotherapist, said she left work early Tuesday afternoon, telling her boss, “I need to be there.”

It was the first time Sy had seen the encampment with her own eyes.

“[I came out] because of the overwhelming feeling of injustice, sadness and my responsibility to take part and say ‘that’s not OK,’ ” she said.

Two Minneapolis squad cars guided the group over interstate overpasses and through downtown streets.

 When protesters reached City Hall, they continued to N. 4th St., blocking the road in front of the federal courthouse.

A few protesters attempted to enter the courthouse, but doors were locked.

City officials did not come out to meet the crowd, and protesters were told that City Hall was on lockdown.

After rallying in the street for about an hour, the group turned to walk back to the Fourth Precinct station via Washington Avenue.

Meanwhile, protesters in Chicago also took to the streets after a white police officer was indicted on murder charges in the 2014 shooting death of a 17-year-old black teen. A graphic video released Tuesday shows the officer shooting the teen repeatedly.

Debate over encampment

The FBI, one of the outside agencies investigating Clark’s death, is “aware of the incident and is coordinating with the Minneapolis Police Department to assess the facts and determine if further federal action” is warranted, spokesman Kyle Loven said.

Ben Petok, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger’s office, said the attorney’s office and the Department of Justice civil rights division are also taking a look.

Protesters have raised questions about Minneapolis police officers’ knowledge of and response to the Monday shooting. Asked about those questions Tuesday, Scott Seroka, a police department spokesman, said, “At this point in the investigation, we know that the people that have been arrested have no connection to the MPD.”

Council President Barb Johnson said the shooting Monday evening was a “continuation of a stressful time for the neighbors that live in the area surrounding the Fourth Precinct,” adding that “they deserve some peace and some rest.”

Johnson disputed comments that police had taken too long to react to the shooting, and said officers responded in three minutes. She said she believes it’s time for the demonstrations to end, in part because they are attracting attention from outside groups.

After the shooting, Jamar Clark’s brother, Eddie Sutton, urged an end to the encampment, expressing concern for the safety of the protesters. Clark’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the police union, said he is frustrated that the chief allowed protesters to pitch any tents at the North Side precinct building. Instead of patrolling the streets, officers from the precinct have to guard and manually open the gate to a parking lot where the squads and their vehicles are stored.

They monitor the encampment from the precinct’s windows and security cameras while several SWAT units are on standby, he said.

To backfill, officers from other precincts have to patrol the North Side communities. This takes them away from their own areas and potentially leads to longer response times to 911 calls, he said.

“This can only get worse,” he said. “Our officers feel helpless, like they are sitting ducks.”

Additional security is in place for City Hall on Wednesday, including additional security guards at entrances and staff being asked to show identification to enter, said Casper Hill, a spokesman for the city. They were also advised that the federal building across the street imposed additional security measures.

Entrepreneur, contributor, writer, and editor of Sostre News. With a powerful new bi-lingual speaking generation by his side, Sostre News is becoming the preferred site for the latest in Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Culture, Tech, Breaking and World News.

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Three Disney World Employees Among 17 Arrested in Florida Child Sex Sting

Three Disney World employees were among the 17 people arrested in a child sex sting operation in Florida, law enforcement officials announced on Wednesday.

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Three Disney World Employees Among 17 Arrested in Florida Child Sex Sting

Three Disney World employees were among the 17 people arrested in a child sex sting operation in Florida, law enforcement officials announced on Wednesday.

In the operation, dubbed “Operation Child Protector,” undercover officers posed as 13- and 14-year-old children on social media and online dating apps between July 27 and Aug. 1.

The undercovers made contact with each of the suspects before proposing they meet at a location in Polk County, where they were busted.

In total, the arrests led to 49 felony and two misdemeanor charges. Those arrested were aged 26 to 47. All were from Central Florida except for one 33-year-old man from California.

“What you see on this board … are deviants. Incredible deviants,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Tuesday, motioning to photos of the alleged pervs. “They travel from as far away as Clewiston, Florida. One even came from Los Angeles.”

“Much to their chagrin, instead of meeting with young children, they were met by law enforcement officers who were online undercover posing as children.”

Kenneth Javier Aquino, 26, a lifeguard at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World, was arrested while still wearing his Disney polo shirt and swimsuit, according to the sheriff’s office.

Aquino engaged in an online conversation on social media with an officer, posing as a 13-year-old girl, authorities said. He then asked the “girl” to send photos, and sent her an explicit video of himself, police said.

Aquino told officers he is a Navy veteran and has a pregnant girlfriend.

Jonathan McGrew, a 34-year-old custodian at Disney World, was nabbed by an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

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McGrew allegedly told the “girl” that he wanted her to come over and have sex with him and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Savannah Lawrence, who also works as a custodian at tourist mecca.

McGrew sent her explicit videos of him and Lawrence performing sexual acts on each other, authorities said.

A rep for Disney World didn’t immediately return a message.

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China Reports First Human Death from Monkey B Virus

China has reported the first human infection and death in the country caused by a rare infectious disease found in primates known as the Monkey B virus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said a 53-year-old veterinary surgeon who worked in a research institute specializing in nonhuman primate breeding in Beijing dissected two monkeys in March and became ill about a month later.

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China Reports First Human Death from Monkey B Virus

China has reported the first human infection and death in the country caused by a rare infectious disease found in primates known as the Monkey B virus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said a 53-year-old veterinary surgeon who worked in a research institute specializing in nonhuman primate breeding in Beijing dissected two monkeys in March and became ill about a month later.

He began experiencing nausea, vomiting, fever and neurological issues, and died in May.

Blood and saliva samples were tested and researchers in April found evidence of the Monkey B virus, also known as the herpes B virus.

Researchers said a male doctor and female nurse who were in close contact with the victim tested negative for the virus.

The Monkey B virus is prevalent among macaque monkeys but infection among humans is extremely rare. Since the virus was identified in 1932, just 50 cases have been reported, with the majority of those in North America. Untreated B virus infections in humans are serious, however, with a fatality rate of about 80 percent.

Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, and progress to more serious complications such as swelling of the brain and spinal cord.

Laboratory workers and veterinarians in close contact with the animals are most at risk as people typically get infected with the virus if they are bitten or scratched by an infected macaque, or have contact with the monkey’s eyes, nose or mouth.

But the virus is unlikely to mutate in a way that poses a problem to the general population. Just one case of human-to-human transmission of the virus has ever been documented.

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U.S. Remembers 9/11 Terrorist Attacks as The Pandemic Changes Tribute Traditions

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with tributes that have been altered by coronavirus precautions and woven into the presidential campaign, drawing both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden to pay respects at the same memorial without crossing paths.

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U.S. Remembers 9/11 Terrorist Attacks as The Pandemic Changes Tribute Traditions

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with tributes that have been altered by coronavirus precautions and woven into the presidential campaign, drawing both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden to pay respects at the same memorial without crossing paths.

In New York, a dispute over coronavirus-safety precautions is leading to split-screen remembrances Friday, one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner. The Pentagon’s observance will be so restricted that not even victims’ families can attend, though small groups can visit the memorial there later in the day.

Trump and Biden are both headed — at different times — to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Trump is speaking at the morning ceremony, the White House said. Biden plans to pay respects there in the afternoon after attending the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence is also due at ground zero — and then at the alternate ceremony a few blocks away.

In short, the anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year, as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis, searches its soul over racial injustice and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward.

Still, 9/11 families say it’s important for the nation to pause and remember the hijacked-plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the trade center, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001, shaping American policy, perceptions of safety and daily life in places from airports to office buildings.

“I know that the heart of America beats on 9/11 and, of course, thinks about that tragic day. I don’t think that people forget,” says Anthoula Katsimatides, who lost her brother John and is now on the board of the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum.

Friday will mark Trump’s second time observing the 9/11 anniversary at the Flight 93 memorial, where he made remarks in 2018. Biden spoke at the memorial’s dedication in 2011, when he was vice president.

The ground zero ceremony in New York has a longstanding custom of not allowing politicians to speak, though they can attend. Biden did so as vice president in 2010, and Trump as a candidate in 2016.

Though the candidates will be focused on the commemorations, the political significance of their focus on Shanksville is hard to ignore: Pennsylvania is a must-win state for both. Trump won it by less than a percentage point in 2016.

Around the country, some communities have canceled 9/11 commemorations because of the pandemic, while others are going ahead, sometimes with modifications.

The New York memorial is changing one of its ceremony’s central traditions: having relatives read the names of the dead, often adding poignant tributes.

Thousands of family members are still invited. But they’ll hear a recording of the names from speakers spread around the vast plaza, a plan that memorial leaders felt would avoid close contact at a stage but still allow families to remember their loved ones at the place where they died.

But some victims’ relatives felt the change robbed the observance of its emotional impact. A different 9/11-related group, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, set up its own, simultaneous ceremony a few blocks away, saying there’s no reason that people can’t recite names while keeping a safe distance.

The two organizations also tussled over the Tribute in Light, a pair of powerful beams that shine into the night sky near the trade center and evoke its fallen twin towers. The 9/11 memorial initially canceled the display, citing virus-safety concerns for the installation crew. After the Tunnel to Towers Foundation vowed to put up the lights instead, the memorial changed course with help from its chairman, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Tunnel to Towers, meanwhile, arranged to display single beams for the first time at the Shanksville memorial and the Pentagon.

Over the years, the anniversary also has become a day for volunteering. Because of the pandemic, the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance organization is encouraging people this year to make donations or take other actions that can be accomplished at home.

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