Arrest of Black man after traffic stop under investigation by Tennessee authorities

Arrest of Black man after traffic stop under investigation by Tennessee authorities
Arrest of Black man after traffic stop under investigation by Tennessee authorities
ABC News

(OAKLAND, Tenn.) — A Black man who says he was beaten by Oakland, Tennessee, police following a traffic stop attempt told ABC News he is traumatized following the incident.

“Looking back on the videos and the pictures, I realized I was really knocked out,” said Brandon Calloway in an interview. “It is kind of hard to watch. But it is fulfilling that to know that it was on video.”

Calloway’s attorney, Andre Wharton, says officers with the Oakland Police Department used excessive force when they allegedly beat Calloway with a baton and used a stun gun on him after a July 16 traffic stop.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is investigating the incident at the request of 25th Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, the agency said. Several documents concerning the case, including body camera footage, remain confidential, TBI told ABC News.

According to an affidavit acquired by ABC affiliate WATN, officers followed Calloway to his home after he allegedly refused to stop for police. Officers say they tried to stop Calloway after he allegedly ran a stop sign and was going 12 mph over the speed limit. Calloway was going 32 miles per hour when the speed limit was 20, the affidavit says, according to WATN.

Police say the officers tried to stop Calloway, but he refused to stop and instead drove to his home and ran inside.

The affidavit said police announced themselves at the home, but Calloway ran upstairs. Officers then pulled out their batons and tasers and hit Calloway several times, WATN reports.

Video taken from Calloway’s girlfriend and provided by Wharton to ABC News, captures the incident.

According to the footage, officers follow Calloway inside and can be seen using their batons and stun guns against him as they chase him through the home. Photos following the incident show Calloway’s face covered in blood, as he lays on the ground.

The footage also shows an officer appearing to step on Calloway’s body.

“I’ve got these stitches in my head. I don’t know how many stitches I have. I’m not paying attention. I’m just worried about – I have stitches in my head,” said Calloway. “My head has really just been hurting constantly. I’ll wake up, if it’s really sunny out, my head hurts and I’ve got a sharp pain in my eye. I can’t focus. I can’t focus for like more than like 15 minutes now.”

The Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment. The department’s chief of police, Chris Earl, told HuffPost that one of the officers involved in the incident has been relieved of duty.

The Oakland mayor’s office declined to comment to ABC News.

Calloway is charged with evading arrest, resisting arrest, failing to stop at a stop sign and speeding, according to WATN.

Wharton said this incident is one of many instances of police brutality being seen across the U.S right now, and he hopes the investigation leads to accountability for the officers.

“For Brandon, this dream – if not nightmare – did become a reality,” Wharton said. “He experienced abuse and abuse of power and police misconduct. He’s yet another example of the long way we have to go as a community into resolving some of these issues.”

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Uvalde school district cancels meeting that was to decide whether to fire Police Chief Pete Arredondo

Uvalde school district cancels meeting that was to decide whether to fire Police Chief Pete Arredondo
Uvalde school district cancels meeting that was to decide whether to fire Police Chief Pete Arredondo
Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images

(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde, Texas, school board has canceled its special session on Saturday that was to have considered the recommendation to fire Police Chief Pete Arredondo for cause following widespread criticism of how he handled the response to the May school shooting.

The school board sent an update Friday that the meeting to consider Arredondo’s termination will be held at a later date “in conformity with due process requirements, and at the request of his attorney.” The meeting has yet to be rescheduled.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has recommended Arredondo be fired.

Arredondo is currently on leave while an investigation into the conduct of law enforcement at the shooting on May 24 takes place. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Arredondo will remain on unpaid leave at this time, the school district said Friday.

Saturday’s meeting would have been a closed session, but, legally, a determination to fire him would have to be publicly announced.

Despite the Uvalde school district’s active shooter plan calling for its police chief to assume command in the event of a shooting, Arredondo allegedly failed to take on the role of incident commander or transfer the responsibility to another officer on scene during the May 24 attack, according to a report issued this week by a joint committee of the Texas Legislature.

“The Uvalde CISD’s written active shooter plan directed its police chief to assume command and control the response to an active shooter,” according to the report.

Last month, Arredondo told The Texas Tribune he did not consider himself the commanding officer on the scene.

He also said that no one told him about the 911 calls that came in from students who were still alive in the classrooms during the 77 minutes before law enforcement breached a classroom door and killed the 18-year-old gunman.

“We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced,” Arredondo said. “Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.”

At an open forum hosted by the Uvalde school board Monday, parents and community members called on officials to fire Arredondo immediately, with some also calling for the firing of other members of Uvalde’s school district police force who were present during the shooting.

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Record-high temperatures forecast for Northeast amid unwavering heat wave

Record-high temperatures forecast for Northeast amid unwavering heat wave
Record-high temperatures forecast for Northeast amid unwavering heat wave
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — More than 82 million Americans from California to New Hampshire are on alert for extreme heat Friday as the nation’s deadly, unwavering heat wave pushes on.

In the Northeast, heat advisories have been issued from Delaware to New Hampshire — and the heat is expected to intensify this weekend.

Record-high temperatures are forecast for Sunday from Philadelphia to New York City to Boston.

New York City’s Triathlon and Duathlon is shortening the run and bike portions of Sunday’s race due to the dangerous heat.

Philadelphia has enacted a heat health emergency.

In Boston, a heat emergency has been extended through Sunday. The city said cooling centers will be open and more than 50 splash pads are available.

The heat wave is also persisting in the South and the West.

Hard-hit Texas reached record highs in Austin (105 degrees) and San Antonio (102 degrees) on Thursday.

Dallas County reported its first heat-related death of the year on Thursday. The county’s Department of Health and Human Services said the victim was a 66-year-old Dallas woman with underlying health conditions.

Record highs are possible on Friday in Memphis, Tennessee, where the record stands at 103 degrees, and Phoenix, where the record is 116 degrees.

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Veteran Rochester police officer killed, partner shot ‘in a cowardly ambush,’ officials say

Veteran Rochester police officer killed, partner shot ‘in a cowardly ambush,’ officials say
Veteran Rochester police officer killed, partner shot ‘in a cowardly ambush,’ officials say
kali9/Getty Images

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — A police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on Thursday night in Rochester, New York, officials said.

Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a 29-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, was with his partner, Officer Sino Seng, an eight-year veteran, when they “were attacked in a cowardly ambush” on Bauman Street, according to Rochester Police Chief David Smith.

At least one male approached the officers and opened fire on them as they were conducting a detail at around 9:15 p.m. local time, according to Lt. Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department.

Mazurkiewicz was shot at least once in the upper body, while Seng was shot at least once in the lower body, according to Smith, who said the pair “fell victim to the very violence in our community that we are trying to combat.”

Mazurkiewicz was rushed to Strong Hospital, where he was listed in threatening condition late Thursday. During a press conference the next morning, the police chief announced that, “despite heroic efforts,” Mazurkiewicz had died. The officer was a husband and father.

Seng was taken to Rochester General Hospital, where he was treated and released. He is “now recuperating from his injuries at home with his wife and children,” according to Smith.

During the attack, a female bystander was also struck by gunfire. She was treated for non-life threatening injuries, Smith added.

The police chief said a number of law enforcement agencies — local, state and federal — have responded to assist and are “being utilized to bring whomever is responsible for this heinous act to justice.”

“This is an ongoing investigation and updates will be provided as they become available,” Smith, who was visibly emotional, said at the press conference on Friday morning. “As we speak, the brave men and women of the Rochester Police Department are continuing to protect our community, despite this horrific and shocking loss to our family.”

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, who also spoke at the press conference, called it a “sad day for our community.”

“I am angry and upset because all too often we are seeing over and over again blatant disregard for life,” Evans said, “be it an old woman on her porch or a 10-year-old girl, braiding her mother’s hair, and now an officer in the line of duty, working to keep our city safe.”

The deadly shooting happened just hours after the mayor declared a local state of emergency due to “a surge” in gun violence.

“The city and our partners in government will dedicate all possible resources to bring an immediate end to this violence and prevent it from expanding further,” Evans said at a press conference earlier Thursday. “We know these shootings are directly tied to a deadly cycle of disputes and retaliations and we will do all we can to disrupt these disputes before they reach critical mass.”

On Friday, the mayor urged anyone with information on the triple shooting to come forward.

“Now is your time to speak up,” he said. “It was Tony Mazurkiewicz, but it can be any of us in this room tomorrow. This is a clarion call for this community to speak up.”

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Why extreme heat endangers more Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people

Why extreme heat endangers more Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people
Why extreme heat endangers more Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people
Tim Grist Photography/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Across the United States, millions are facing extreme heat as temperatures hold steady in the triple digits. For communities of color, underlying systemic inequities increase the chances of heat-related illnesses and death.

Heat is among the deadliest of all weather-related disasters, beating out floods, lightning and hurricanes, according to the National Weather Service. The World Health Organization estimates that heatwaves caused more than 166,000 deaths globally between 1998 and 2017.

The rates of emergency department visits for heat-related causes increased by 67% for African Americans, 63% for Hispanics, 53% for Asian Americans and 27% for white people from 2005 to 2015, according to a report in the Wilderness and Environmental Medicine journal.

Between 2004 and 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Indigenous groups had the highest rates of heat-related death, followed by Black populations.

The impact on people of color in the U.S. during the ongoing heat wave may be exacerbated through various iterations of discrimination and inequity.

Poor urban planning and housing discrimination raises risks

People of color were exposed to more extreme urban heat than white people in almost every major U.S. city, a 2021 study published in the research journal Nature found.

That’s because of “urban heat islands,” where poor urban planning removed much of an area’s natural green lands and replaced them with pavement, buildings and other materials that retain and absorb heat, according to the report.

This type of urban planning causes the air to heat up more than it does in leafier areas. Black and Hispanic residents have the highest average summer urban heat island exposure, according to the study in Nature.

“We find that the average person of color lives in a census tract with higher SUHI intensity than non-Hispanic whites in all but 6 of the 175 largest urbanized areas in the continental United States,” the report says.

This discrepancy is caused by redlining and housing discrimination that pushed Black and brown communities into neighborhoods with fewer trees and green spaces and heavier traffic, experts say.

The urban heat island effect is worsening, as more people are continuing to move into and grow cities, Dr. Angel Hsu, a climate scientist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, told ABC News.

“We found that 97% of major cities in the U.S. where more than a quarter of a million people live were seeing the same disproportionate exposure patterns for communities of color and people who are living below the poverty line,” Hsu said. “That seems to suggest that it’s not just a policy that we can blame from the 1960s.”

Around 83% of people in the U.S. live in urban areas, up from 64% in 1950, according to a study from the University of Michigan. About 89% of the U.S. population will live in an urban area by 2050.

Workforce imbalances leave some exposed

People of color are also disproportionately exposed to extreme heat through their occupations, according to health research organization KFF.

Researchers found that noncitizen and Latino migrant workers respectively make up 50% and 75% of agricultural workers in the U.S. It’s a group that’s about 20 times more likely to die from heat-related illnesses compared to other U.S.-based workers, the organization says.

“Some of the big concerns are that the exposure to extreme heat is just one thing that may lead to so many other issues, with regards to access to foods, with regards to people being able to go out to work and provide for their families and afford a lot of things,” said Nambi Ndugga, a policy analyst with KFF’s Racial Equity and Health Policy Program.

Low-income households, especially those in predominantly Black, Hispanic or Indigenous communities, may have a hard time accessing cooling centers or using air conditioners due to the high cost of energy bills, experts say.

“We need to be making sure that people have access to air conditioning in their homes and we know that communities of color have disproportionately lower access to air conditioning and the ability to run it,” Rachel Licker, the principal climate scientist at the science advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News. “Obviously, that’s becoming more and more of an issue as energy bills are increasing right now.”

Health disparities can lead to increased risks

Health disparities often plague Black, Hispanic and indigenous communities, thanks to inequities in healthcare access, quality insurance, access to healthy foods and other factors, a report in Everyday Health found.

These groups experience cardiovascular and respiratory diseases — such as heart disease, hypertension and asthma — at higher rates, which could increase one’s risk of being hospitalized or dying from extreme heat as well, health experts say.

Extreme heat can worsen or aggravate existing health conditions, the CDC found.

“We know that those communities have disproportionately lower access to quality health care to deal with health-related issues as a result of extreme heat,” said Licker.

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Two police officers shot, one in life-threatening condition: Report

Veteran Rochester police officer killed, partner shot ‘in a cowardly ambush,’ officials say
Veteran Rochester police officer killed, partner shot ‘in a cowardly ambush,’ officials say
kali9/Getty Images

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — Two police officers have been shot in Rochester, New York, and one is in life-threatening condition Thursday night.

The two officers were conducting a detail around 9:15 p.m. when “at least one male approached them and opened fire on them,” Lt. Greg Bello said at the scene Thursday night, Rochester ABC affiliate WHAM-TV reported.

The condition of the other officer was not immediately known. Both were rushed to the hospital.

The incident took place on Bauman Street in northeast Rochester, WHAM reported.

Story developing…

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Southern entrance of Yosemite National Park to reopen as containment of Washburn Fire increases

Southern entrance of Yosemite National Park to reopen as containment of Washburn Fire increases
Southern entrance of Yosemite National Park to reopen as containment of Washburn Fire increases
Eloi_Omella/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The southern entrance of Yosemite National Park is scheduled to reopen now that firefighters have made headway with containing the wildfire that was threatening the park’s iconic sequoia trees.

The Washburn Fire, a wildfire that has burned through nearly 5,000 acres along the southern border of Yosemite since July 7, had reached 58% containment as of Thursday, according to the Yosemite Fire and Aviation Management.

The containment of the fire, which at one point was inching dangerously close to the Mariposa Grove, will allow the southern entrance of Yosemite National Park to open on Saturday at 6 a.m., a spokesperson for the National Park Service told ABC News.

The Mariposa Grove is one of the most popular destinations at Yosemite and is home to more than 500 mature giant sequoia trees. This summer was the second time in less than a year that an approaching wildfire neared an iconic plot of sequoia trees, some of which have been there for thousands of years.

No reports of damage to any of the named trees in the grove have been released, and some tree trunks have been wrapped in fire-resistant foil as protection.

Sprinklers have also been set up around several trees, including the Grizzly Giant, the most famous giant sequoia at Yosemite, which stands at 209 feet tall. Fire officials hope the steady stream of water, combined with prescribed burns, will be enough to protect the trees from a fatal encounter with the wildfire.

Since 2020, three fires are estimated to have killed up to 19% of the large giant sequoias in the entire Sierra Nevada population, and 85% of sequoia groves have been affected by wildfire in the past six years, according to the National Park Service.

A portion of Highway 41, which leads into the southern entrance of Yosemite, was shut down earlier this month as a result of the Washburn Fire.

The wildfire also sparked air quality alerts hundreds of miles away in California’s Bay Area, specifically the North Bay and East Bay regions.

The cause of the fire is still unclear.

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Woman dies after falling out of police car while in custody

Woman dies after falling out of police car while in custody
Woman dies after falling out of police car while in custody
avid_creative/Getty Images

(SPARTA, Ga.) — A woman in Georgia has died after she was taken into custody but somehow managed to fall out of a police patrol car while authorities were taking her to the Sheriff’s Office, police say.

The incident occurred on July 15 when 28-year-old Brianna Marie Grier of Sparta, Georgia, was taken into custody by Hancock County Sheriff’s office deputies after they were called to her home on Hickory Grove Church Road, according to a statement released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“Grier was arrested at the home,” the statement from the GBI said. “While deputies were taking Grier to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Grier fell out of a patrol car and sustained significant injuries.”

It is unclear if Grier was handcuffed while she was in the vehicle, how fast the car was going at the time or how exactly she was able to fall out of the car while en route to the Sheriff’s Office. The GBI statement did not say why Grier had been taken into custody in the first place.

Grier died on Thursday at Grady memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, at approximately 1:00 p.m. from injuries she sustained in the fall.

“Hancock County Sheriff Terrell Primus asked the GBI’s regional investigate office in Milledgeville to investigate on July 15 following the initial incident,” said the GBI.

Authorities said that Grier’s body will be taken to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy and that the GBI investigation remains active and ongoing.

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Music producer Metro Boomin pays off family home of Buffalo security guard who confronted shooter

Music producer Metro Boomin pays off family home of Buffalo security guard who confronted shooter
Music producer Metro Boomin pays off family home of Buffalo security guard who confronted shooter
Scott Escobar

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — This past May, Aaron Salter Jr., a retired police officer, was killed in the Buffalo, New York, supermarket shooting while attempting to save others.

Nearly two months after the tragedy, his wife Kimberly and his son Aaron Salter III say they received a life-changing gift. Kimberly Salter is now mortgage-free, the son says, thanks to hip-hop and rap music producer Metro Boomin who paid off the mortgage on the home she shared with her late husband.

Salter III said his family received the gift in an Instagram post Wednesday.

After his father’s death, Salter III said he started a GoFundMe campaign to help his mother out with finances, wanting to ensure she would be “taken care of and be okay.” He said that Metro Boomin reached out to him after coming across the campaign, which has raised nearly $65,000.

“He’s got an album, ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes,’ and he said that my story really resonated with him because he called my dad a hero and he said that he did everything he could to protect those people,” Salter III told ABC News. “He saw the story and he just wanted to help us out in any way that he could,” he added.

Salter III, who says he is a longtime fan of the producer, said his mother Kimberly was stunned when he told her about Metro Boomin’s gift.

“She was like, ‘he’s doing what?'” Salter III said. “She didn’t believe it until she logged into her account and saw that it was paid off. And when she saw it was paid off, she was very emotional. She was very happy.”

Metro Boomin, born Leland Tyler Wayne, is a popular American hip-hop music producer, DJ, and songwriter from St. Louis. He has amassed over a dozen top 20 hits, working with hip-hop and rap stars including Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Migos, Future and Gucci Mane.

An Instagram account that appears to belong to the producer, responded to Salter III’s post, commenting, “Love always, bro, my line is always open, and I meant every single thing I said back when we spoke.”

A representative for Metro Boomin has not responded to a request for comment from ABC News.

Salter III’s father, Aaron Salter Jr., was among those killed last May after a white teenager allegedly killed 10 Black people in what authorities described as a racially motivated mass shooting.

At the time, Salter Jr. was working as a security guard for the grocery store, which is located in a predominantly Black neighborhood. When the shooter proceeded inside the store on May 14, Salter confronted him, shooting and striking the teen before he himself was fatally wounded.

While it’s unclear how many victims were saved due to Salter’s actions, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia told ABC News, “We’re sure he saved lives.”

“He went down fighting,” Gramaglia added. “He came in, he went towards the gunfire. He went towards the fight.”

Shortly after the shooting, Canisius College posthumously honored Salter Jr., who was just three credit hours (one course) away from graduating, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Salter III accepted the diploma on his father’s behalf during the school’s graduation ceremony.

Two months ago, Metro Boomin suffered his own loss, when his mother, Leslie Joanne Wayne, was reportedly murdered by her husband (not Metro Boomin’s biological father), who then committed suicide, TMZ reported in June.

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Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane sentenced in George Floyd killing

Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane sentenced in George Floyd killing
Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane sentenced in George Floyd killing
Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in a federal court on Thursday morning for violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

Lane, 39, is one of three former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted earlier this year of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as the handcuffed, unarmed 46-year-old Black man was pinned under the knee of their senior officer, Derek Chauvin, for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s videotaped killing in Minneapolis sparked anti-racism protests and calls for police reform across the United States and around the world.

Lane’s former Minneapolis police colleagues, 28-year-old J. Alexander Kueng and 35-year-old Tou Thao, were also convicted of failing to intervene to prevent Chauvin, 46, from applying bodily injury to Floyd. Lane, who was heard on video twice asking his fellow officers whether they should turn Floyd onto his side, did not face that charge. Chauvin knelt on the back of Floyd’s neck, while Kueng knelt on his back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders away.

During their trial in February, Lane, Kueng and Thao each took the witness stand and attempted to shift the blame to Chauvin, who was a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department. Lane told the jury that Chauvin “deflected” all his suggestions to help Floyd, while Kueng testified that Chauvin “was my senior officer and I trusted his advice” and Thao attested that he “would trust a 19-year veteran to figure it out.”

The jury handed down convictions after deliberating for roughly 13 hours.

Magnuson has not yet set sentencing dates for Kueng and Thao.

Lane faces a separate sentencing in state court on Sept. 21, after changing his plea to guilty to a reduced charge of aiding and abetting manslaughter. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the top charge against him of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Thao and Kueng, who have rejected plea deals offered by prosecutors, are scheduled to go on trial in state court on Oct. 24 over charges of aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Earlier this month, Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison on separate federal civil rights charges in Floyd’s killing and in an unrelated case involving a Black teenager. He had already been sentenced to 270 months, minus time served, which equals about 22 1/2 years in prison, after being convicted in state court last year of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

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