(NEW YORK) — Advocates and some relatives of Emmett Till are pushing for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham after finding an unserved arrest warrant for kidnapping, an attached affidavit from Moses Wright, and court minutes from 1955 in the basement of a Leflore County courthouse.
Keith Beauchamp, director of the movie, “Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” told ABC News that he and a team from the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, including co-founder and Till’s cousin Deborah Watts, went to Mississippi to check if the warrant had ever been rescinded, but came across the documents in an unmarked box, seemingly untouched for over sixty years.
Beauchamp said he is looking to state law enforcement for prosecution on the kidnapping charge in an effort to hold Bryant Donham, 88, accountable for her alleged role in the lynching of 14-year-old Till. The Department of Justice first opened an investigation into Till’s murder under its Cold Case Initiative in 2004, but stated it lacked jurisdiction to raise federal charges.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Beauchamp said. “I want people to understand that this is not a complicated case…I thought it was impossible to get the case reopened in 2004. But it happened.”
“Let’s follow the law and make sure that justice is done in this case,” he added.
In 1955, 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant accused the teenager, who was visiting from Chicago, of whistling at her after leaving a store, Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market. Till was later abducted from his great-uncle Moses Wright’s home by Carolyn Bryant’s husband Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam.
Till’s brutalized remains were found days later in the Tallahatchie River. Mamie Till Mobley’s decision to have photos from her son’s open casket funeral published in Jet magazine catalyzed the civil rights movement.
The two men were indicted on kidnapping and murder charges, but later acquitted by an all-white jury. Rev. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin, was there the night he was kidnapped. He has worked for years to see justice for Till For him, the rediscovery of the warrant “is only a headline, not evidence.”
“For nearly 67 years, I have sought justice in the brutal lynching of my cousin and best friend, Emmett Till. We accepted the determination of the government that there was not sufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham,” he said in a statement to ABC News.
The Department of Justice closed its 2017 re-investigation of Till’s murder in December 2021. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division declined ABC News’ request for comment on this recent development.
“I would be overjoyed if that woman could be held accountable for this horrible crime. If she can be compelled merely to tell the truth, I would even support that,” Parker said. “To me, there is a measure of justice in that, too.”
“We need to send a message that it doesn’t matter how long you live, if you commit a hate crime, eventually the law will catch up to you. But we don’t want to keep raising our hopes just to have them dashed again—if it’s not going to lead to justice.”
ABC News’ Fatima Curry contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A week after the U.S. Supreme Court voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, ending a nearly 50-year precedent, several governors are moving to protect abortion rights in their states.
On Friday, New York is expected to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing access to abortion during a special session initially called to rewrite state gun permit laws in the wake of another Supreme Court decision that rolled back the state’s concealed carry restrictions.
The measure, which has been supported by Gov. Kathy Hochul, would codify the right to an abortion and the right to contraception in the state’s constitution. It would also update the existing Equal Rights Amendment to extend protections to several new classes, including on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive healthcare and autonomy), disability, national origin, ethnicity and age.
The state Senate passed the measure Friday afternoon, sending it to the Assembly, which is also expected to pass it. An amendment to the state’s constitution would ultimately be decided by voters in a referendum after passing two separately elected state legislatures.
We refuse to stand idly by while the Supreme Court attacks the rights of New Yorkers.
I am issuing a proclamation to add equal rights to the legislature’s extraordinary session agenda — to enshrine the right to abortion access in the State Constitution. pic.twitter.com/M3LIMkYAOT
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) July 1, 2022
“We refuse to stand idly by while the Supreme Court attacks the rights of New Yorkers,” Hochul said on Twitter while sharing a proclamation to add the equal rights resolution to the state legislature’s session agenda on Friday.
In neighboring New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law Friday afternoon abortion bills that protect health care providers and out-of-state patients. One bill bans the extradition of people who get or perform abortions in New Jersey to states that criminalize the procedure, and the second prohibits state agencies from assisting in investigations that release their information to other states.
The bills swiftly passed the state legislature in the wake of the Supreme Court decision impacting Roe.
“While others throughout the country are revoking a woman’s right to reproductive freedom, New Jersey will continue to defend this fundamental right in our state,” Murphy said in a statement Friday.
The laws follow other actions by the state to protect abortion rights in anticipation of Roe falling. In January, Murphy signed a bill that codified the right to an abortion into state law.
In Connecticut, a new law strengthening abortion rights goes into effect on Friday. The law, which was signed by the governor in May, protects medical providers and patients seeking abortion care who may be traveling to Connecticut from states that have outlawed abortion. It also expands abortion access in Connecticut by expanding the type of practitioners eligible to perform certain abortion-related care.
As the state becomes a “safe harbor” state for abortion care, Lamont also issued an open letter Friday urging out-of-state businesses to relocate to Connecticut, “a state that supports the rights of women and whose actions and laws are unwavering in support of tolerance and inclusivity.”
This morning, @LGSusanB and I sent open letters to businesses in states restricting abortion, urging them to consider relocating their business to Connecticut where we protect reproductive rights and support people once they’re ready to have a family. pic.twitter.com/UNcm2YaBx8
— Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont) July 1, 2022
“With the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there are many states across the country outlawing a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. Not here in Connecticut. Not as long as I’m governor,” Lamont said in a video message, asking businesses to consider the state as a place where their employees and customers may better identify with its values.
Lamont also touted the state’s policies around paid family leave, child care and education for those seeking to start a family.
Twenty-six states are certain or likely to ban abortion with the fall of Roe, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health policy research organization.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet virtually on Friday with nearly a dozen governors, including Lamont and Hochul, to discuss the administration’s efforts to protect access to reproductive care, according to a White House official.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s political action committee has paid nearly half a million dollars to multiple law firms that employ attorneys representing close allies of Trump who have been targeted by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack, according to a review of financial records by ABC News — an arrangement that committee members say raises concerns about the possible coercion of witnesses.
Trump’s Save America PAC began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to multiple law firms and lawyers connected to his allies in the committee’s crosshairs after the panel was first formed last summer, and continued the payments as the committee’s investigation began issuing subpoenas throughout the year, according to multiple sources and a review of Federal Election Commission filings.
ABC News has identified payments to at least five law firms that are connected to lawyers representing Trump allies subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, totaling $471,000. None of the firms were paid by the PAC prior to the committee’s formation last summer, according to FEC reports. The payments continued until as recently as May of this year.
While the disclosure reports show Save America’s payments to these firms, the documents don’t show which specific lawyers the payments are intended for, or who the firms are representing.
Key allies of the former president whose attorney’s firms have received payments by Trump’s PAC include former White House aides Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro, as well as his former special assistant Dan Scavino — all of whom have engaged in fierce legal battles with the committee in an effort to block their cooperation.
This week, a member of the Jan. 6 committee suggested that allies of Trump could be attempting to coerce committee witnesses by paying for their lawyers using money raised off of false election claims.
“We talked about the hundreds of millions of dollars that the former president raised, some of that money is being used to pay for lawyers for witnesses,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren said on CNN. “And it’s not clear that that arrangement is one that is without coercion, potentially, for some of those witnesses.”
In a statement to ABC News, Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington pushed back on the committee’s suggestion, calling the panel “illegal and illegitimate” and saying the committee “does not have the facts, so instead they traffic in dishonest suggestions knowing the truth is not relevant to the Fake News Media.”
Bannon and Navarro, two of the former president’s fiercest supporters who have both been indicted by a federal grand jury on contempt of Congress charges, have both been represented by firms that have received money from Save America PAC.
The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Bannon in September 2021, citing “reason to believe” that the former Trump adviser had information regarding the Capitol attack. Bannon defied the subpoena and was ultimately indicted on contempt of Congress charges in November..
That same month, an attorney named Matthew Evan Corcoran from the firm Silverman Thompson filed a notice of appearance on behalf of Bannon to defend against contempt of Congress charges alongside David Schoen, who represented Trump during his second impeachment trial, according to court records reviewed by ABC News. Months later, campaign disclosure records show Trump’s PAC made a $50,000 payment to Corcoran’s law firm, Silverman Thompson, in May 2022. It was Save America’s first time paying the firm.
Then in June, former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was arrested after being indicted for his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 panel. Navarro, who’s been identified as a key player in the former president’s efforts to overturn the election, represented himself when he was first subpoenaed in February — but at least since mid-June, he’s has been represented by attorney John Rowley, whose firm JPRowley Law has received thousands of dollars in payments from Trump’s PAC since the committee was created.
Cleta Mitchell, a conservative lawyer who also played a key role in Trump’s efforts to hold onto power, was also represented by Rowley as she worked to defy the committee’s requests for cooperation.
In December 2021, Rowley, on Mitchell’s behalf, filed to block the committee from obtaining her phone and text records, according to court documents reviewed by ABC News. Mitchell later withdrew the motion and testified before the committee.
Rowley’s firm has received a total of $125,000 dollars from Trump’s PAC since November of last year. The firm was first paid $50,000 on November 29, 2021, which came two weeks before Mitchell filed to block the committee, then in May received two more payments totaling $75,000.
Other law firms representing close Trump allies facing Jan. 6 subpoenas, including his former deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino, current spokesperson Taylor Budowich, and former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, have also been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars from Trump’s PAC, financial disclosure records show. Both Budowich and Scavino still work for Trump.
Scavino, one of Trump’s closest aides, was held in contempt by the committee after he offered limited cooperation with its subpoena. The Department of Justice earlier this month declined to pursue charges against him.
“This illegitimate committee is trying to drown innocent Americans in legal fees and assassinate their character with doctored evidence and dishonest innuendos — that’s the only coercion happening and the media is ignoring it,” Budowich said in a statement to ABC News. “I will not be intimidated by corrupt politicians who are trying to destroy our country.”
Budowich’s attorney, Michael Abel, cofounder of Abel Bean Law, said in a statement, “Our Firm’s representation of Mr. Budowich is a matter of public record. … We categorically reject any contention regarding the alleged coercion of witnesses. Never happened. Never would happen. Ever. Nor has something so outrageous or unethical ever been mentioned or suggested to us.”
Kerik’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore — whose firm, Parlatore Law Group LLP, received $25,000 from Save America PAC for “legal consulting” on April 22, 2022 — told ABC News that the Save America payment was unrelated to Kerik. A representative for Scavino did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Separately, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was initially represented by former Trump White House lawyer Stefan Passantino, with her legal bills covered by Trump’s Save America PAC, according to a source familiar with the arrangement. But Hutchinson switched attorneys just before delivering her bombshell testimony to the committee earlier this week, and is now represented by a firm not paid by the former president’s political arm.
Since July 2021 when the Jan. 6 committee was formed, Passantino’s firm, Elections LLC — which has long received payments from Trump’s PAC — has been paid a total of $280,548 by Save America. It’s unclear how much of that amount was for Hutchinson’s legal bills.
Cofounded by Passantino and Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, Justin Clark, Elections LLC has been one of the law firms paid not only by Save America but also by Trump’s former presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee.
The former Trump campaign, in particular, paid the firm tens of thousands of dollars every month from April 2019 through March of this year, totaling $1.3 million, as both Passantino and Clark aided Trump’s team in various legal matters, including contesting votes in states following the 2020 election.
Trump’s team has also been directing others to a legal defense fund set up by American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, sources tell ABC News.
Schlapp, who set up the “America First Fund” and has worked with Trump’s team to determine who would receive assistance from the fund, has said that the fund is “not going to assist anyone who agrees with the mission of the committee and is aiding and abetting the committee.”
At the close of Tuesday’s hearing, Jan. 6 committee leaders said they believe that some Trump allies who they did not name have attempted to intimidate witnesses who are cooperating with the special House panel. Sources have told ABC News that Hutchinson was one of the witnesses who told the Jan. 6 committee she was pressured by Trump allies to protect the former president.
“Most people know that attempting to influence witnesses to testify untruthfully presents very serious concerns,” Rep. Liz Cheney said. “We will be discussing these issues as a committee and carefully considering our next steps.”
A lightly regulated political action committee, Save America PAC can spend its funds freely as long as its expenditures are property reported to the FEC, said Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance expert and the deputy executive director of the watchdog journalism project Documented.
But the PAC selectively covering witnesses’ legal fees raises ethical concerns, he said, especially when the PAC’s funds are controlled by a person who “arguably has the most at stake in the Jan. investigation.”
“The biggest ethical concern is that Trump’s PAC will cover legal fees strategically, in order to deter witnesses from cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee or to encourage favorable testimony,” Fischer said. “In other words, the worry is that there’ll be an implicit understanding that Trump’s PAC will only cover the legal fees of those who decline to fully cooperate with the committee, or that the PAC will withhold support to witnesses who provide testimony that Trump deems harmful.”
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — New York City became the first to launch a “Test to Treat” program that provides COVID-19 antiviral treatments, including Paxlovid, for people who test positive for the novel coronavirus, according to city health officials and White House response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.
The treatments, which are provided free of cost, are available at three sites. The program will expand to a total of 30 sites by the end of July. The select testing sites are managed by the New York City Test & Trace Corps.
Clinicians will provide the treatment at the sites, which are currently located outside of local pharmacies to allow for the distribution of the medication.
The program launch comes as the city’s COVID test positivity rate is above 10% for the first time since January. The number of positive cases has also risen 10% from just two weeks ago, according to data from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Experts previously suggested the true test positivity rate could even be higher due to the number of people testing positive with at-home rapid tests.
This is a trend seen on the national level as well. According to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, as of June 26, the seven-day average for the COVID test positivity rate in the United States was 15.65%, the highest figure recorded since Feb. 3.
The average number of daily COVID-19 related deaths has risen to over 300. The U.S. was reporting just over 2,700 deaths every day at one point in February.
“COVID is a formidable opponent,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference Thursday. “It pivots and shifts and we are clear that we are going to pivot and shift with it and we are leading the way in the country on how we utilize all of our assets to address this serious crisis that we have faced and that we cycle out of.”
The city has already been offering home delivery for city residents who receive a prescription for antiviral medication.
“We were the epicenter of the COVID pandemic at the start, but we’re leading the way [with] prevention and mitigation,” Adams said. “We are now leading the way again by having this mobile unit. This new public health service will help all New York to get access to life saving treatments.”
Equitable access to Paxlovid remains a significant issue across the country, noted Jha.
“This is about equity, this is about making sure that everybody who … can benefit from treatments gets it,” Jha told reporters. “This is about meeting people where they are. Literally going into neighborhoods, going into communities and making sure that we’re not asking people to come to us. That we are going to them and that is the ultimate public health.”
(ALLEN, Ky.) — A 49-year-old man is in custody after he allegedly gunned down two police officers and wounded several others in a mass shooting at his Kentucky home.
The shooting unfolded in Floyd County at about 6:44 p.m. local time Thursday, Kentucky State Police said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called it a “barricade situation.”
According to an arrest report, Lance Storz, who was armed with a rifle, fired multiple rounds at police officers around his home, killing two officers and a police K9.
Five other officers and an emergency management director were injured, the arrest report said.
The slain officers were identified by the sheriff’s office as Deputy William Petry and City Police Captain Ralph Frasure.
“Floyd County and our brave first responders suffered a tragic loss last night,” the governor tweeted Friday. “I want to ask all of Kentucky to join me in praying for this community. This is a tough morning for our commonwealth.”
Storz is in custody on multiple charges including murder of a police officer and attempted murder of a police officer. He entered a plea of not guilty and is being held on $10 million bond. Storz returns to court on July 11.
ABC News’ Jason Volack contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — New York lawmakers introduced legislation Friday that would ban the concealed carry of guns in a “sensitive location,” including Times Square and all mass public transportation, according to a draft of the bill.
The bill comes after a Supreme Court ruling overturned a state law that limited who could get concealed carry permits to people who had “proper cause.”
Sensitive places where guns cannot be carried include the subway, trains, buses and ferries, as well as government buildings, houses of worship, schools, libraries, public playgrounds, public parks, zoos, homeless shelters and polling places, according to the legislation.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced lawmakers’ intent to establish “sensitive places” legislation on Wednesday. The legislation was introduced in the state Senate during a special session called by Hochul that began Thursday.
The bill also seeks to ban the carry of guns on all private property by default, unless the owner of the property has signage permitting guns or has otherwise expressed consent to guns being permitted.
The law makes exceptions for law enforcement, peace officers, active duty military personnel and security, who would be allowed to carry guns in sensitive places. Those engaging in lawful hunting are also allowed to carry guns in sensitive locations.
The law would make carrying guns in the banned areas a felony offense.
A state-wide license and record database created and maintained by police will be checked on a monthly basis to determine continued accuracy and whether a person is no longer a valid license holder. The records are to be checked against records for criminal convictions, criminal indictments, mental health, extreme risk protection orders and orders of protections.
Another database would be created and maintained by police for ammunition sales.
Gun and ammunition sellers and dealers will also have to keep a record of all their transactions involving guns and ammunition.
The bill will also add a vehicle requirement to existing safe storage laws, requiring gun owners to lock up their guns in an appropriate safe storage depository out of sight from outside the vehicle and remove ammunition from the gun. Otherwise, gun owners would not be allowed to leave their firearm out of their immediate possession or in a car.
Hochul, in introducing the legislation on Wednesday, said this measure is meant to cut down on gun thefts from cars.
Currently, New York law requires gun owners to get safe storage for their guns, keeping them locked up, if they have children at home aged 16 or younger. The new legislation lifts that age requirement to 18 years old.
(NEW YORK) — A suspect has been identified in the 1990 cold case murder of a Seattle teenager through the investigative tool of genetic genealogy, Washington state officials announced.
But the suspect, Robert Brooks, won’t stand trial, because he died in 2016 from natural causes, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Brooks has now been linked to the sexual assault and murder of 17-year-old Michelle Koski, who was found dead on Aug. 25, 1990 in Snohomish, the sheriff’s office said.
Brooks, then 22, had been released from prison four months before the killing, the sheriff’s office said. He was staying with family just a few blocks from where Koski lived, the sheriff’s office said.
Koski’s case had already been unsolved for 15 years when it was picked up by the cold case team in 2005, the sheriff’s office said. There wasn’t a DNA match from the crime scene to anyone in the CODIS law enforcement database, officials said, and over the next 10 years, several suspects were ruled by testing their DNA.
The case finally identified Brooks as a suspect by using genetic genealogy, which takes an unknown suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene and identifies it using his or her family members who voluntarily submit their DNA samples to a DNA database. This allows police to create a much larger family tree compared with using only databases like CODIS.
A forensic genealogist spent about one year building family trees using the unknown suspect’s DNA, which she eventually narrowed down to two brothers, officials said. Brooks’ DNA was then matched to DNA at the crime scene, officials said.
“After more than 30 years of searching for answers following this terrible murder, we can finally provide Michelle’s family with some answers,” Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney said in a statement.
“I have been praying for this day for a very long time,” Koski’s friend, Melissa Johnson, said at a news conference Thursday, as she thanked the officers and genealogists who worked on the case.
“Michelle and I met when we were just 10 years old,” Johnson said.
“I often wonder what she would’ve been like had she still been alive, and how different my life would be, as well. … I now pray that Michelle can finally rest in peace,” Johnson said.
(NEW YORK) — Rain, heat and fire are all in the forecast this 4th of July weekend.
Here’s what to know:
South
Heavy rain is pounding the Texas coast and western Louisiana on Friday.
The heaviest rain will be from Beaumont, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where up to 6 inches of rain is possible.
Rainfall rates could reach 2 to 4 inches per hour on Friday.
A flood watch has been issued for Houston, Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles through Friday evening.
Northeast
In the Northeast, it’ll be a scorcher on Friday. Temperatures are forecast to reach 91 degrees in Boston; 92 in New York City; 94 in Philadelphia and 93 in Washington, D.C.
Factoring in humidity, the heat index (what temperature it feels like) could be close to 100 degrees from New Jersey to Virginia.
Then a cold front will move into the Northeast on Saturday, bringing severe weather threat for the Interstate 95 corridor from D.C. to Boston. Damaging winds and some hail are possible.
In the West, fire danger will be high Saturday through Monday due to dry and windy conditions expected in Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
The strongest wind gusts will be on Sunday when they could approach 45 mph.
Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor is pictured with Chicago youth attending the 20th ward’s annual youth forum. – Courtesy Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor
(CHICAGO) — As a 19-year-old, Jeanette Taylor was a single mother raising three children inside a one-bedroom apartment she shared with her mother, brother, sister and her niece. She knew they needed their own space, and fast, so she turned to the Chicago Housing Authority for housing assistance.
She was left on the waiting list for 29 years.
Taylor, now a Chicago alderwoman, said her story is indicative of the housing crisis people continue to face, so she’s taking legislative action to address the housing crisis and the system that keeps change from happening.
“I paid taxes, I worked, I volunteered at the kids’ school,” Taylor told ABC News. “I was doing what they say you’re supposed to do and when I reached out to the institutions, and my city that was supposed to help me, I didn’t get the help that I needed.”
Accessibility to affordable housing for low-income households is an issue plaguing the nation, Taylor said.
In Chicago, before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chicago Coalition for Homelessness reported that “an estimated 58,273 people” were experiencing homelessness in 2019. In one night alone, over 326,000 people experienced sheltered homelessness in the United States, according to the 2021 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.
Having struggled with navigating the housing system in her own city, she made it her priority to reach out to the Chicago Housing Authority upon taking office in 2019 to address the city’s high rates of homelessness.
With decadeslong waitlists and the livelihoods of thousands of families hanging in the balance of housing voucher rotations, Taylor knew the city lacked a substantial commitment to change.
“We know sending them into shelters, and transitional housing is horrible,” Taylor said. “We got a real opportunity to talk about how do we help the homeless population in the city.”
The director of public affairs of the Chicago Department of housing, Eugenia Orr, told ABC News the city is taking steps to combat the issue.
Orr said the City Lots for Working Families (CL4WF) program is an effort to promote the development of affordable housing on vacant lots throughout the Chicago area. In addition, the program works to “incentivize home builders” and provide vacant lots to affordable housing developers.
“Homes must be made available to qualified buyers with incomes up to 140% of area median income,” Orr said.
Although the program repurposes the land, the link between the vacant buildings and accessibility for low-income households is part of Taylor’s proposed Accountable Housing and Transparency ordinance.
Taylor introduced the ordinance in April this year to centralize efforts in housing the homeless and those in need. Other key features of the ordinance include prioritizing the displaced and disabled, centralizing leasing, a single waitlist, “interagency coordination” among all Chicago-based public health and housing institutions, and a requirement for each affordable housing unit to “achieve and maintain 97% occupancy rate.”
By consolidating the separate platforms of applying to affordable housing created by different agencies, Taylor said the ordinance aims to simplify the process so that more people and families can obtain safe housing in a reasonable amount of time.
Taylor, who shared her story last month about finally being added to the top of the housing waitlist, said she did so to open a larger discussion on the national issue of accessibility to affordable housing.
“The system should be ashamed, not me,” Taylor said.
Soon after Taylor’s post went viral, the CHA released a statement addressing news reports highlighting their long wait times.
“CHA’s public housing and project-based voucher waitlists are always open and have wait times that range from as little as six months, to as much as 25 years,” the CHA said in a statement going on to explain its system of recycling the 47,000 vouchers that the federal government grants to the CHA.
“The number allotted has not increased in years,” the CHA said. “A voucher only becomes available to a new family on the waitlist after it is no longer being used by an existing voucher holder.”
Taylor said she knows of the wait pains families go through. When she finally got a call saying they had found her an apartment, they said her son could not live there because he had just graduated and turned 18.
“After completing my application, the young lady told me that I wasn’t gonna be able to put him on my lease,” Taylor said. “She was like, ‘if we find him in your unit, you will lose your CHA housing.'”
Taylor had to either rejoin the waitlist, or move without her son.
“I’ll be homeless before I put my 18-year-old son out,” Taylor said.
As years passed, Taylor said she’d received a letter assuring her that her number was getting closer to the point of selection. Finally, after meeting with the head of the Chicago Housing Authority 2019 Taylor said she received a letter on May 20 notifying her that she made it to the top of the waitlist and could begin the application process.
“I just sat on the bed,” Taylor said. “The kid that handed me the mail, is the kid that I just had when I applied for this, who will be 29.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that there are over 970,000 households residing in public housing units across the nation, a number that fluctuates daily.
For many families like Taylor’s, she said many feel like “there’s no choice” except just to continue fighting.
According to a 2021 point-in-time count conducted by HUD, 122,849 African Americans experienced sheltered homelessness compared to 3,055 Asians, 6,460 American Indian/Alaska Natives, 3,785 Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islanders, and 113,294 white people.
By taking the opportunity to fix a persistent housing issue in her ward, she hopes the housing crisis and racial housing disparities can be transparently addressed by the federal government.
“Black women, you figure it out, and I had to,” Taylor said.
(KEATON BEACH, Fla.) — A teenage girl was seriously injured in a shark attack at a Florida beach on Thursday, authorities said.
The attack happened at Keaton Beach in northwestern Florida’s Taylor County. The unidentified girl was scalloping in water approximately 5 feet deep near Grassy Island, just of Keaton Beach, when she was bitten by a shark, according to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office.
“A family member reportedly jumped in the water and beat the shark until the juvenile was free,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The girl suffered “serious injuries” and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee, about 80 miles northwest of Keaton Beach, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said the type of shark that attacked was unclear but it was described as approximately 9 feet long.
“Swimmers and scallopers are cautioned to be alert, vigilant, and practice shark safety,” the sheriff’s office added. “Some rules to follow are: never swim alone, do not enter the water near fishermen, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish, and avoid erratic movements while in the water.”
Shark attacks increased worldwide in 2021 after three consecutive years of decline, though the previous year’s significantly low numbers were attributed to lockdowns and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to yearly research conducted by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
Florida has topped the global charts in the number of shark bites for decades, and the trend continued in 2021, researchers said. Out of 73 unprovoked incidents recorded around the world last year, 28 were in Florida, representing 60% of the total cases in the United States and 38% of cases worldwide. That number was consistent with Florida’s most recent five-year annual average of 25 shark attacks, according to researchers.
