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(Minneapolis, MINN.) — Newly released body camera footage shows Minneapolis police officers allegedly celebrating the “hunting” of anti-police brutality protesters just five days after the murder of George Floyd.

In one video, a protester yells: “We’re unarmed! This is America. We can say what we want!”

In response, an officer appears to shoot at the protester with rubber bullets.

Floyd’s death set off months of protests against police violence and racism. The city of Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed by then-MPD officer Derek Chauvin, set a curfew in response to the unrest.

The body cam footage released to the public by the court captures the police department’s enforcement of the 8 p.m. curfew: Officers firing rubber bullets at numerous people out on the streets in an attempt to forcefully clear them of demonstrators. Some officers can be seen and heard celebrating and even fist-bumping over their successful hits.

In the recording, one officer can be heard saying: “You guys are out hunting people now. It’s just a nice change of tempo.”

Shortly after, another officer comments: “F— these people.”

In another video, an officer says: “I would love to scatter [the protesters] but it’s time to f—— put 100 people in jail and just prove the mayor wrong about his white supremacist from out of state,” referring to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s comments about white supremacists and out-of-state instigators.

The officer later adds, “This group is probably predominantly white because there’s not looting and fires.”

Due to an ongoing internal investigation into the actions of officers seen in the videos, the Minneapolis Police Department declined ABC News’ request for comment.

The footage was introduced as part of the criminal case against Jaleel Stallings, who was accused of trying to kill police officers but has since been acquitted of all charges, according to his attorney Eric Rice.

The 27-year-old faced two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and three other charges for firing a gun at an unmarked police van. No officers were injured.

Stallings argued that he fired at the unmarked police van in self-defense. In an affidavit, Stallings said that other people were running from the unmarked van and warned him of people shooting from the vehicle. He said that after being hit by a rubber bullet himself, he used his gun to shoot the vehicle in an attempt to scare the attackers off.

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(ARLINGTON, Texas) — Police are investigating an active shooter situation reported at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, the school district said.

An unknown suspect apparently shot multiple people before fleeing the scene, according to an internal police briefing. The number of victims was not immediately clear.

First responders gather outside Timberview High School in in Arlington, Texas, after rep…

The school is on lockdown, the Mansfield Independent School District said. The scene is secure, according to the internal briefing.

Arlington police said they are conducting a “methodical search.” ATF officials are at the scene.

Arlington is located between Fort Worth and Dallas.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 705,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.6% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 06, 9:41 am
Nearly 200K rapid at-home antigen tests recalled

Ellume is recalling nearly 200,000 rapid at-home antigen tests out of concerns over an abnormally high rate of false positives.

Roughly 427,000 test kits, including thousands sent to retailers and some provided to the Department of Defense, were impacted. About 195,000 of these kits are still unused and subject to the recall, and about 202,000, have already been used. Of those, there were about 42,000 positive results, of which as many as a quarter, or perhaps fewer, of those positives could have been inaccurate, though it’s difficult to determine an exact ratio.

CEO Sean Parsons said in a statement, “I offer my sincere apologies — and the apologies of our entire company — for any stress or difficulties they may have experienced because of a false positive result,” Parsons said.

Ellume said it identified the root cause as an issue in variation with one of the kit’s components. The company said it has “implemented additional controls” and is “continuing to work on resolving the issue that led to this recall.”

Ellume is notifying affected customers and urging confirmatory tests.

Oct 06, 9:24 am
More Americans died of COVID this year than all of 2020

More Americans have died from COVID-19 this year than from the virus in all of 2020, according to newly updated data from Johns Hopkins University.

More than 353,000 COVID-19 deaths have been reported since Jan. 1, compared with 352,000 COVID-19 deaths in the first 10 months of the pandemic.

Over the last month, the U.S. has reported more than 47,000 deaths.

Oct 05, 8:06 pm
2,200 Kaiser Permanente employees on unpaid leave due to vaccine mandate

Over 2,000 Kaiser Permanente employees are on unpaid leave following the health care system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline, the company said Tuesday.

Kaiser Permanente’s 240,000 employees had until Sept. 30 to respond to the requirement. As of Monday, 2,200 people — about 1% of the company’s workforce — had been placed on unpaid leave for not complying, the company said.

That number has more than halved in the days since the deadline. On the morning of Oct. 1, roughly 5,000 employees were on unpaid leave.

Those on unpaid leave have until Dec. 1 to get the vaccine or secure a qualified medical or religious exemption, at which point they may return to work. If they do neither, they may be eligible for termination, Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Marc Brown told ABC News.

“We hope none of our employees will choose to leave their jobs rather than be vaccinated, but we won’t know with certainty until then,” Brown said. “We will continue to work with this group of employees to allay concerns and educate them about the vaccines, their benefits, and risks.”

Oct 05, 5:47 pm
FDA could authorize vaccine for young kids soon after Oct. 26 meeting, vaccine chief says

The Food and Drug Administration could issue an emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 soon after Oct. 26, when the agency’s advisory committee plans to discuss Pfizer’s data, the FDA’s vaccine chief said Tuesday.

Dr. Peter Marks couldn’t give an exact day, but said the FDA has “a track record of trying to move relatively swiftly” after these committee meetings and feels the weight of the world — and then some — to get this done.

“When we did the adult approval, we felt the weight of the world,” Marks told ABC News during the Q&A portion of a town hall hosted by the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project. “Here, we feel like the weight of the world, plus the weight of Mars on top of us, or some other planet as well.”

“This is clearly one of the most important issues to get done so we’re not going to be wasting any time,” he added.

Marks said he’s confident that the FDA will would have all necessary data from Pfizer in time for the meeting.

Last month, Pfizer said data shows its vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11.

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(LOS ANGELES) — A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the companies who run the oil line that dumped hundreds of thousands of crude oil off the coast of California over the weekend.

The federal lawsuit, filed Monday in the Central District of California Western Division, claimed the companies in charge of operating the rig and connected pipelines caused harm to people, wildlife and the local ecosystem by failing to prevent the spill from the platform about 4.5 miles from shore, known as “Elly.”

The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of failing to warn or provide the public with “adequate and timely notice of the hazards and their impacts.”

“At the time of this complaint’s filing, deceased animals were washing up covered in oil on the shorelines of the Affected Area and a large ecological reserve nearby had suffered tremendous damage,” the lawsuit stated, defining the “Affected Area” as the stretch of coast between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach and the defendants as Amplify Energy Corporation its subsidiary, the Beta Operating Company and other affiliates that may also hold responsibility.

A maximum of 144,000 gallons leaked into the Pacific Ocean after a pipe broke Saturday morning, according to officials. By early Sunday morning, the oil had reached the shore, fanning out over an area of about 5.8 nautical miles and entering the Talbert Marshlands and the Santa Ana River Trail, according to the city of Huntington Beach.

As a result, nearby beaches were closed to facilitate the cleanup and prevent residents from inhaling toxic fumes from the crude oil. Dana Point Harbor, about 30 miles south of Huntington Beach, became the latest location to close on Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of people are participating in cleanup efforts, both on land and in the ocean.

The main plaintiff, Peter Moses Gutierrez, is a disc jockey who frequently performs on Huntington Beach, according to the lawsuit. Gutierrez expects to lose a “substantial amount” of business in the foreseeable future as a result of the spill, the complaint alleges.

Gutierrez and other plaintiffs claim they have also been exposed to toxins from the oil, according to the lawsuit.

The nearly 18-mile Elly pipeline and the facilities that operate it were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to the lawsuit.

The pipeline was likely leaking before the damage was discovered Saturday morning, Orange County supervisor Katrina Foley stated over the weekend. Officials from a division of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife stated in a report that they were notified of an “observed sheen” off the Huntington Beach coast at 10:22. p.m. on Friday, according to documents obtained by ABC News.

The U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the leak on Saturday morning, Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher told reporters.

Officials are looking into whether a ship anchor struck the underwater pipeline, damaging it, Willsher told reporters at a news conference Monday.

The Beta Operating Company has been cited 125 times for safety and environmental violations since 1980, The Associated Press reported, citing a database from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. It has been fined a total of $85,000 for three incidents.

The plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial to determine whether the defendants violated state laws and whether the defendants breached a duty and caused harm to the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit. The jury will also be asked whether restitution and compensatory or consequential damages should be awarded to the plaintiffs.

Representatives for the Amplify Energy Corporation did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Calls to the Beta Operating Company were not answered.

ABC News’ Jenna Harrison, Bonnie Mclean and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 703,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Latest headlines:
-Sandra Lindsay, 1st to get vaccine in US, to get booster shot
-Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health
-J&J submits booster request to FDA

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Oct 05, 3:24 pm
Forecasters predict falling cases, hospitalizations, deaths

Forecasts used by the CDC predict falling cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks in the U.S.

The COVID-19 Forecast Hub’s ensemble forecast predicts 22,686 people in the U.S. will die over the next two weeks. If that happens, it would mark more than 4,400 fewer deaths than in the previous two weeks.

ABC News’ Brian Hartman

Oct 05, 2:44 pm
Sandra Lindsay, 1st to get vaccine in US, to get booster shot

New York nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first person in the U.S. to get a COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial, plans to get her Pfizer booster dose Wednesday at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York.

Other health care workers who also got their first shots in December are planning to join her in getting boosters on Wednesday.

Oct 05, 2:24 pm
Extremists likely to target health care sector as vaccine mandates spread

The Department of Homeland Security this week issued an intel notice warning that extremists, including white supremacists and other would-be domestic terrorists, are likely to “threaten violence or plot against healthcare personnel, facilities, and public officials in response to renewed and expanding COVID-19 mitigation measures.”

The document, distributed Monday to U.S. law enforcement and government agencies and obtained by ABC News, noted that anti-vaccine messaging will likely increase as vaccine mandates spread.

The notice warns that some of the misinformation and disinformation now circulating is being pushed and promoted by Russia, China and Iran as a means of sowing anger and discord in the U.S.

ABC News’ Josh Margolin

Oct 05, 12:32 pm
76% of 12+ population has at least 1 vaccine dose

Seventy-six percent of Americans ages 12 and above have had at least one vaccine dose, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar said Tuesday.

Now 65% of the total U.S. population has had at least one dose, he said.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A request to grant George Floyd a full posthumous pardon is headed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk after a public defender alleged Floyd was framed in a 2004 drug bust by a former Houston police detective now indicted on murder charges.

In a letter sent Monday to Floyd’s one-time public defender Allison Mathis, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles wrote it has “completed their consideration of your client’s application requesting a Full Pardon and have voted to recommend clemency.”

The board forwarded its recommendation to Abbott for final disposition. Abbott has not said whether he will grant the pardon.

Mathis filed the request in April, writing in the petition that a “pardon is being sought because it is just and right to clear a conviction that is not supported by evidence.”

Floyd was arrested on Feb. 5, 2004, by then-Houston undercover narcotics detective Gerald Goines, who alleged Floyd provided a second suspect .03 grams of crack cocaine to sell, according to the petition. The man Floyd allegedly gave the drugs to turned out to be a police informant who sold the drugs to Goines as part of a sting operation and was not arrested or identified, according to the petition.

Floyd eventually pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to 10 months in state jail, authorities said.

In August 2019, Goines was charged with two counts of murder related to a botched narcotics raid at a home in southeast Houston. Goines’ police colleague, Steven Bryant, pleaded guilty in June to federal charges of falsifying records and interfering with a government investigation in an attempt to help Goines cover up an illegally obtained “no-knock” warrant on the Houston home of Rhogena Nicholas and her husband, Dennis Tuttle.

During the Jan. 28, 2019, raid, a shootout erupted in which Nicholas, Tuttle and their dog were killed and four police officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded.

In announcing the indictments of Goines and Bryant, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg alleged that Goines made “numerous false statements” in the affidavit presented to the judge who signed the ‘no-knock” warrant.

The scandal prompted the Harris County District Attorney to review at least 1,400 criminal cases tied to Goines.

Ogg released a statement on Monday supporting the Board of Pardons and Paroles’ recommendation to grant Floyd clemency.

“We lament the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope that his family finds comfort in Monday’s decision by the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for a 2004 conviction,” Ogg’s statement reads.

Mathis also praised the board’s decision.

“A man was set up by a corrupt police officer intent on securing arrests rather than pursuing justice,” Mathis said in a statement. “No matter what your political affiliation is, no matter who that man was in his life or in his death, that is not something we should stand for in the United States or in Texas.”

Ben Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, urged Abbott to grant the full pardon.

“This drug charge, which led to George Floyd’s conviction based on false evidence, helped to unravel his life,” Crump said in a statement. “Similarly, tens of thousands of Black lives are ruined by a criminal justice system that uses the war on drugs to target Black people, force them into felony pleas, incarcerate them, take away their voting rights, and destroy their families.”

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, as the result of injuries suffered when police in Minneapolis attempted to arrest him on suspicion of using a phony $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Former police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lost consciousness after repeatedly claiming of not being able to breathe, was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. Three other police officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter are scheduled to go on trial next year.

 

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(NEW YORK) — A man is in custody after he was removed from a suspicious SUV near the Supreme Court Tuesday morning, Capitol police said.

The suspect, 55-year-old Dale Paul Melvin of Kimball, Michigan, was removed from the car and placed under arrest around 11 a.m. local time, police said.

Earlier in the morning Melvin had allegedly parked illegally and refused to talk to responding officers, authorities said. Police then brought in crisis negotiation officers.

There’s no information on motive and no weapons have been found, police said.

Everyone is safe, police said.

There were no disruptions to operations at the Supreme Court; oral arguments began as planned at 10 a.m.

The Supreme Court building remains closed to the public.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 703,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 05, 8:50 am
J&J submits booster request to FDA

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday submitted its request to the FDA for a booster shot for J&J recipients.

The submission includes data showing that a booster increased protection to 94% against moderate to severe/critical disease in the U.S. (Peak efficacy from one shot is 72% in the U.S.)

The FDA’s independent advisory committee is holding a public hearing on J&J boosters on Oct. 15. The FDA may authorize J&J boosters after Oct. 15 and the CDC’s recommendation could follow.

Oct 05, 8:15 am
Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health

NIH Director Francis Collins announced that he’s stepping down, saying in a statement that no person should serve for too long and it’s time to give space for the next generation of scientists to lead.

He was in the role for 12 years.

Oct 04, 7:56 pm
Pentagon mandates vaccines for civilian employees

The Pentagon announced Monday that all of its civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.

“Vaccinating (department) civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a memo sent out to Pentagon leadership Monday. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”

There is already a vaccine mandate for military members, but each branch of service has its own deadline.

Oct 04, 6:02 pm
Newly approved rapid test will double US capacity, FDA says

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new rapid test Monday that it said will double the at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next few weeks.

The the ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test will ideally assuage the shortage of over-the-counter, at-home rapid testing that has gone on since schools and other businesses have returned to in-person work.

“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” the FDA said in a press release Monday.

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(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — Cassie Laundrie said she has a message for her missing brother, who has been the center of a nationwide manhunt after the body of his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, was found in Wyoming last month.

“I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” Cassie Laundrie told ABC News in an interview that aired Tuesday on Good Morning America.

Brian Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, were traveling across the country this summer in Petito’s white 2012 Ford Transit and were documenting their road trip on social media. On Sept. 1, Brian Laundrie returned to his parent’s home in North Port, Florida, by himself in Petito’s van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her family in Long Island, New York, authorities said.

Cassie Laundrie, who lives in Florida with her husband and two sons, told ABC News that her brother and parents stopped by for an “ordinary” visit the day he returned.

“I really wish he had come to me first that day with the van,” she said, “because I don’t think we’d be here.”

Brian Laundrie was subsequently named a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. He has refused to speak to investigators and has not been seen since Sept. 14, authorities said.

On Sept. 16, the Moab City Police Department in Utah released body-camera footage of their officers’ interaction with Brian Laundrie and Petito after pulling them over in Petito’s van on Aug. 12. The officers were responding to a 911 call that reported an incident between the couple, in which the caller claimed he witnessed Laundrie allegedly “slapping” Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk, hitting her.

The officers wrote in a report that Laundrie and Petito admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie. The couple also told the officers that Laundrie did not hit Petito, according to the report.

After speaking to Petito and Laundrie separately, the officers allowed the couple to continue on their way but ordered them to spend the night apart. No charges were filed.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that it was “pretty typical of them to argue and try and take space from each other.” But she said she never witnessed any signs of domestic violence.

On Sept. 19, the Teton County Coroner’s Office in Wyoming announced that a body was recovered in the Bridger-Teton National Park. Two days later, the coroner confirmed the remains were that of Petito and that an initial determination showed she had died as a result of homicide. A federal arrest warrant was later issued for Brian Laundrie in Wyoming, pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment related to his “activities” following Petito’s death, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The twist and turns of the case have grabbed national attention, as the search for Brian Laundrie continues.

Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that she does not know where her brother is and if she did, she would “turn him in.” She said the last time she saw or heard from him was on Sept. 6, when their family went to Fort De Soto Park in Florida’s Pinellas County.

“We just went for a couple of hours and we ate dinner and had s’mores around the campfire and left, and there was nothing peculiar about it,” she said. “There was no feeling of grand goodbye. There was no nothing.”

“I’m frustrated that, in hindsight, I didn’t pick up on anything,” she added. “It was jut a regular visit.”

She said it’s unusual for her brother to disappear for this long.

“I hope he’s OK, and then I’m angry and I don’t know what to think,” she said. “I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”

She said she has been cooperating with authorities “since day one,” and she called on her parents to do the same.

“I don’t know if my parents are involved,” she said. “I think if they are, then they should come clean.”

While she remains concerned for her brother, Cassie Laundrie said she is also mourning for Petito and wants the Petito family to know that her heart is with them.

“They deserve answers,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) — Someone is taking home a big pot of cash.

One person in California bought the ticket that matched all six numbers drawn Monday night to win the Powerball jackpot worth $699.8 million. It is the fifth largest in Powerball history and the seventh largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, Powerball said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

“Due to final ticket sales, the jackpot climbed beyond earlier estimates to a staggering $699.8 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $496 million,” they said. “The winning numbers in the Monday, Oct. 4 drawing were white balls 12, 22, 54, 66, and 69. The Powerball number was 15.”

The person — whose identity was not released — bought the winning ticket at Albertsons grocery store in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo.

The jackpot was last hit on June 5, and since then there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner, a new record for the Powerball jackpot, according to officials.

The lottery is available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In August, it went from two drawings a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to three drawings a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This was the first Powerball jackpot won on a Monday night since the game launched a third weekly drawing on Aug. 23.

“The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an estimated annuity of $699.8 million, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump sum payment of $496 million. Both prize options are prior to taxes,” Powerball said. “Participating lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets for one of the nine ways to win. In Monday’s drawing alone, more than 2.2 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million.”

On Monday, five tickets matched all five white balls but missed the red Powerball to win a $1 million prize. The $1 million-winning tickets were sold in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts and Virginia. A ticket sold in Tennessee matched all five white balls and doubled the prize to $2 million, because it included the Power Play feature for an additional $1, the company said.

Monday’s Powerball drawing was the 41st drawing in the jackpot run: a record for the number of consecutive drawings without a Grand Prize winner.

Even though there hadn’t been a jackpot winner in months, several Powerball players have earned smaller cash prizes.

“In Saturday’s drawing alone, more than 2.8 million tickets won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million,” Powerball officials said in a news release.

The largest Powerball jackpot prize money was $1.586 billion in 2016, which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee, officials said.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball officials.

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