(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — The relatives of those killed in the 2015 Charleston Church shooting are speaking out after they came to an $88 million settlement with the federal government over allegations the FBI was negligent in performing a background check on shooter Dylann Roof.
Rev. Anthony Thompson, whose wife was slain in the attack, said that the settlement brought some closure in “the tragedy of his life.”
“It’s been a long and tedious road and a lot of pain, a lot of suffering,” said Thompson. “It’s been hard to move my life forward because of all the legalities involved. Having to appear in court, having to send pictures and just revisit this whole situation time after time.”
Months before Roof opened fire at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed nine in a racist attack, he was arrested on drug possession charges. Despite having a prior criminal history, Roof was still able to purchase the handgun used in the massacre.
“The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a horrific hate crime that caused immeasurable suffering for the families of the victims and the survivors,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement released Thursday. “Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has sought to bring justice to the community, first by a successful hate crime prosecution and today by settling civil claims.”
Roof’s victims include Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Colemen-Singleton and Myra Thompson.
Roof, who is a self-declared white supremacist, was convicted of 33 federal hate crime and murder charges. He was sentenced to death in 2017.
Although Thompson said no amount of money can bring back his wife, he called the Justice Department’s settlement “fair” and said he’s glad to be able to move on in his life.
Thompson’s lawyer, Mullins McLeod, said that the settlement sends a bigger message.
“Unfortunately, in America, African Americans have not always experienced equal justice in our courts,” said McLeod. “This settlement, where the defendant is the most powerful nation on earth, sends a powerful message that justice does exist.”
Thompson has both publicly and privately forgiven Roof for the attack. He said that expressing forgiveness has brought the Charleston community closer together.
“The community of Charleston [has] a history of slavery here. … Even in my lifetime, I’ve experienced discrimination [and] racism, on the job, in schools,” said Thompson. “After [the church] expressed our forgiveness, there was a change. Our community came together.”
Avatar has a last-minute addition to your Halloween playlist.
The Swedish metallers have dropped a new song called “So Sang the Hollow,” which frontman Johannes Eckerström describes as “what Simon and Garfunkel would’ve sounded like if they grew up listening to Black Sabbath.”
“‘So Sang the Hollow’ lives between a dream and our waking nightmares,” Eckerström says. “It’s like a seance with ghosts of your own creation.”
You can download “So Sang the Hollow” now via digital outlets.
Avatar just released two new singles, “Going Hunting” and “Barren Cloth Mother,” in September. The band’s most recent album is 2020’s Hunter Gatherer.
In other news, Avatar has rescheduled a group of tour dates that were postponed this month after Eckerström tested positive for COVID-19. The shows will now take place in January and February 2022.
The fourth studio effort from the “Destruction” outfit will arrive February 11. It’s the follow-up to 2020’s Possession, which spawned the singles “Obsession” and “Half Your Age.”
Cleanse includes the previously released single “Every Window Is a Mirror,” as well as the songs “After Coffee” and “The Inversion.” A fourth album cut, “Cyn City 2000,” is out today via digital outlets.
Joywave will launch a U.S. headlining tour in support of Cleanse next year, starting February 26 in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Tickets go on sale next Thursday, November 4, at 10 a.m. local time.
For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit JoywaveMusic.com.
Here’s the Cleanse track list:
“Pray for the Reboot”
“Buy American”
“Every Window Is a Mirror”
“Cyn City 2000”
“After Coffee”
“We Are All We Need”
“Goodbye Tommy”
“The Inversion”
“Why Would You Want to Be Young Again?”
“Have You Ever Lit a Year on Fire?”
The Rolling Stones have teamed up with the Boston Dynamics robotics company on a unique remake of the band’s “Start Me Up” music video, which features robots recreating the band members’ moves from the original clip, released 40 years ago this month.
The video, which you can watch at Boston Dynamics’ YouTube channel, features the original video side-by-side with the robotic re-creation. The new clip features the company’s dinosaur-like “Spot” robots displaying moves like Mick Jagger, as well as like Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts.
The new clip has been rechristened “Spot Me Up.”
“Start Me Up” appeared on The Rolling Stones’ 1981 album Tattoo You. The song and album peaked at #2, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts. An expanded, 40th anniversary Tattoo You reissue was released earlier this month.
Meanwhile, The Stones continue their 2021 No Filter Tour of U.S. with a concert tonight in Tampa, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 743,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 29, 6:44 pm
SCOTUS rejects bid to block Maine vaccine mandate for health care workers
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request for an emergency injunction against Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care staff.
A Maine physician and several others had sued the state over the mandate, which required that all health care workers be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, because it disallows religious exemptions.
With three justices dissenting, the high court rejected the application Friday, though it could still grant the case on the merits and take it up for further consideration.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Oct 29, 6:28 pm
Federal court lifts pause on New York vaccine mandate for health care workers
A federal appeals court has lifted an injunction on New York’s statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers seeking a religious exemption.
The court Friday returned the case to the district court for further proceedings. But for now, the state can once again enforce the mandate despite religious objections.
Seventeen people had sued the state after it ordered health care staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get at least one dose by Sept. 27, saying the mandate violated their constitutional rights because it disallowed religious objections.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Oct 29, 3:24 pm
FDA authorizes pediatric vaccine
The FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday.
An initial 15 million doses are expected to start shipping out of Pfizer’s manufacturing plant within 24 hours.
No vaccinations will start until the CDC director signs off. The director is likely to sign off on Nov. 2, with vaccinations likely beginning Nov. 3.
Oct 29, 1:04 pm
Being vaccinated offers better protection than being infected: CDC study
A new study from the CDC finds that people with “natural” immunity through infection were more than five times more likely to become infected with COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated.
The study reviewed more than 7,000 people across nine states, measuring infections and hospitalization rates three to six months after either vaccination or initial infection. The study — published in the CDC’s weekly journal, the MMWR — reaffirms prior research indicating that vaccines offer superior protection than natural immunity.
Oct 29, 12:46 pm
FDA expected to authorize vaccine for kids within hours
ABC News expects the FDA to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday, according to people familiar with the agency’s planning.
The exact timing of the announcement is not yet known.
But no vaccinations will start until the CDC director signs off. A hearing with the CDC’s independent advisory board is set for Nov. 2; the director is likely to sign off on the panel’s recommendations that evening, with vaccinations likely beginning Nov. 3.
Oct 29, 11:12 am
NYPD 80% vaccinated after administering over 1,000 shots Thursday
New York City’s police department is 80% vaccinated after administering more than 1,000 shots on Thursday.
Nearly all municipal employees, including police officers, sanitation workers and firefighters, have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit proof of receiving at least one dose of vaccine. Those who don’t get vaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave, starting Monday, for at least 30 days, and their future employment will be resolved in negotiations with individual labor unions.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea called reports of nearly half unvaccinated precincts “certainly outdated” and said he’s more concerned about filling “individual shifts” than staffing precincts.
“We will move resources around. We have had significant increase in people getting vaccinated in the past three days, and that’s the good news,” Shea said on Channel 5. “New Yorkers should not, should not, be worried about this.”
The FDNY’s vaccination rate stands at 71%. The city’s firefighters’ unions organized an anti-vaccine mandate rally on Thursday.
Oct 29, 10:18 am
Montana, Idaho leading nation in death rates
In recent weeks, cases have been creeping up in Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont and Washington, according to federal data.
The nation’s daily death average has dropped by about 36.3% in the last month, but it remains persistently high, around 1,150 new deaths reported each day.
Montana currently has the country’s highest death rate, followed by Idaho and West Virginia, according to federal data.
Oct 28, 12:44 pm
Florida files lawsuit against Biden administration over vaccine mandate for federal contractors
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, arguing that the vaccine mandate for federal contractors is “unconstitutional.”
“Florida companies, public and private, receive millions of dollars in federal contracts annually and will be negatively impacted by the unlawful requirements,” a statement from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said.
DeSantis said in a statement, “The federal government is exceeding their power and it is important for us to take a stand because in Florida we believe these are choices based on individual circumstances.”
Oct 28, 11:37 am
Global cases, deaths on the rise for 1st time in 2 months
The global number of COVID-19 cases and deaths are now increasing for the first time in two months, largely driven by an ongoing rise in Europe that outweighs declines in other regions, W.H.O. Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.
The highest case increases in the last two weeks were in the Czech Republic (up by 234%), Hungary (up by 200%) and Poland (up by 183%), according to the W.H.O.
The director-general attributed ongoing infections “in large part” to inequitable access to tests and vaccines.
“Eighty-times more tests, and 30 times more vaccines, have been administered in high-income countries than low-income countries,” Tedros said. “If the 6.8 billion vaccine doses administered globally so far had been distributed equitably, we would have reached our 40% target in every country by now.”
Goo Goo Dolls are getting into the holiday spirit with the deluxe edition of It’s Christmas All Over.
Following the release of their debut Christmas album in 2020, the legendary rock band is expanding on the effort with a deluxe edition that includes a pair of new tracks: the original “One Last Song About Christmas” and a cover of Dean Martin‘s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” featuring opera-turned-alt-rock singer Kudisan Kai.
“Raise a glass/ And cheers to the season/ We don’t need a reason/ To love one another again,” the group sings over a melancholy melody in “One Last Song About Christmas,” co-produced by frontman John Rzeznik.
The new tracks join holiday classics including “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Christmas Don’t Be Late.”
The It’s Christmas All Over deluxe edition will be released on November 5.
Journey keyboardist and songwriter Jonathan Cain has just released a new EP titled Oh Lord Lead Us, the latest in a series of Christian music projects he’s put out in recent years.
The six-track collection includes the title track, which was issued as a single in July, and a tune called “Blue Thunder” that was inspired by Cain watching a storm roll by while at his home in Florida.
“It just hit me that there was a powerful conversation that God was having with the whole neighborhood,” Cain explains to American Songwriter. “The lightning hits and the thunder comes right after it; and the way it rolls, it feels like the sound waves roll, really, across the land. You can feel the earth kind of shake.”
The EP also features “Something Greater,” a song named after and inspired by a book by his wife, pastor Paula White-Cain.
Cain is planning to release a new full-length solo album soon.
Meanwhile, Jonathan’s song “Oh Lord Lead Us” will serve as the theme song for a new series Rockin on Heaven’s Door that will debut in December on the Pure Flix faith-based network. Cain also will appear on the debut episode of the series, which will feature various musicians discussing their spiritual beliefs.
Cain also is planning a songwriting event and a Christmas concert, with details to be announced soon.
As previously reported, Journey will be performing a series of Las Vegas concerts in December, including a six-show residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels, a special symphonic performance on December 18 in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Here’s the EP’s full track list:
“Oh Lord Lead Us”
“Pray to the Father”
“Worship Our Way”
“Beautiful Thunder”
“Something Greater”
“No One but You Jesus”
(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 vaccine shots for kids ages 5 to 11 may be available as soon as next week after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday authorized the Pfizer vaccine for kids.
With the FDA’s authorization, the initial 15 million doses of the vaccine are expected to start shipping out of Pfizer’s manufacturing plant within 24 hours.
It will then be up to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to make the final decision on whether to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for the approximately 28 million U.S. children aged 5 to 11.
She is expected to make her decision quickly after a CDC advisory panel meets on Tuesday, meaning vaccinations could start as early as next week.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on “Good Morning America” this week that getting more kids vaccinated will be key to ending the pandemic in the U.S.
“If we can create a situation where more of these kids are not getting infected, we should be able to drive this pandemic down, which is what we really hope to do, even as we face the cold [weather] and other concerns about whether we might see another surge,” said Collins. “We don’t want that, and this would be one significant step forward in getting our country really in a better place.”
As the countdown begins, here are five things parents should know about COVID-19 vaccines and kids under the age of 12.
1. Kids ages 5 to 11 are still not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
With the FDA’s authorization, the decision has now moved to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory group.
That group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is scheduled to meet Tuesday to review the same data reviewed by the FDA advisers.
Then, once the ACIP recommends the vaccine, the CDC director must sign off on it, the final step in the authorization process.
Once that decision is made, the vaccine would be able to be administered relatively quickly to children across the country.
At the same time, the FDA will continue to review data to decide whether to grant full FDA approval for the vaccine in kids ages 5 to 11.
The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for people ages 16 and older in August. It is currently authorized for emergency use in children ages 12 to 15.
The two other vaccines currently available in the U.S., Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are currently available only for people 18 years and older.
Moderna said Monday it plans to submit data to the FDA soon showing its vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 produces a strong immune response and appears safe.
2. The Pfizer dose is different for kids under age 12.
In Pfizer and BioNTech’s clinical trial of more than 2,200 children, the COVID-19 vaccine was administered in two doses, but the doses were one-third the amount given to adults.
The clinical trial results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, showed the antibody response in children at that dose was at least as strong as the full adult dose in patients ages 16 to 25.
Pfizer and BioNTech say the vaccine produced minimal side effects in children ages 5 to 11, and the side effects were similar to those experienced by adults and older children.
For 12- to 15-year-olds, the FDA has authorized the same dosing as adults with the Pfizer two-dose vaccine.
3. The vaccine’s focus is on kids’ immune systems.
Children have different immune systems than adults, so it should be reassuring for parents that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be safe in kids.
Differing immune systems among people of different ages also help explain why the cutoffs for vaccine eligibility rest on age and not body size.
In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine, other immunizations are also scheduled and administered based on age and not weight. This is partially due to the fact that the body’s immune responses to vaccinations and infection are known to be different based on age.
4. The vaccine will be distributed to kids through pediatricians, pharmacies, health clinics and more.
Once greenlighted, the pediatric doses of the vaccine will be sent to thousands of sites across the country, including more than 25,000 pediatricians’ offices, more than 100 children’s hospitals, tens of thousands of pharmacies and hundreds of school- and community-based clinics, the White House announced Oct. 20.
Though the White House has purchased 65 million Pfizer pediatric vaccine doses — more than enough to fully vaccine all children ages 5 to 11 in America — the first launch will dole out doses in waves based on states’ eligible population of kids.
The distribution plan will also include a national public education campaign to “reach parents and guardians with accurate and culturally-responsive information about the vaccine and the risks that COVID-19 poses to children,” according to the White House.
White House officials told the nation’s governors on Oct. 12 that it has enough pediatric doses on hand for the 28 million children ages 5 through 11 expected to become eligible once the CDC gives the green light.
To troubleshoot any confusion in distribution, federal health officials are outlining a new color-coded cap system for each formulation of the vaccine, though still “preliminary.” Purple-capped vials will contain doses for adult and older adolescents, a chart offered to states said; orange-capped vials will contain doses for kids aged 5 to 11.
5. Families need to remain vigilant against COVID-19.
Unvaccinated children can not only become ill from COVID-19 themselves, but they can also spread the virus to more vulnerable family members and other adults with whom they interact.
Both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend universal mask-wearing in schools to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Experts said that in addition to unvaccinated children wearing face masks, parents and siblings who are vaccinated should also continue to wear face masks indoors because of the rates of breakthrough infections in the U.S.
Families should also continue to follow other safety guidelines shared throughout the pandemic, including social distancing and hand-washing.
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration is considering making settlement payments to migrants who were separated from their children during the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy,” according to two people familiar with the planning.
Enacted in April of 2018, the policy that led to family separation drew widespread condemnation for removing children who crossed the border with their families and putting the adults into CBP custody, as opposed to keeping families together.
An Inspector General report in January found that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was the “driving force” behind the policy, which was stopped in June 2018 after then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order.
The ACLU, among others, sued on behalf of families — seeking damages. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the payments, citing sources familiar with the matter saying an amount of around $450,000 a person — which could amount to nearly $1 million a family — was being discussed.
Officials who spoke with ABC News stressed on Friday that payment amounts have not yet been determined and could fluctuate per individual.
Former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf slammed the proposal as “insulting to American taxpayers” and “dangerous” in an interview with ABC News on Friday.
“It appears as though they refused to go into court and to advocate against paying individuals or compensating individuals that have knowingly broken the law,” he said.
The Biden administration’s family reunification task force found that 3,913 children were separated from their families under the Trump administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with families who were separated in August and has previously called the policy “cruel.”
Through her legal representation, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the set of Rust, on which Alec Baldwin accidentally fatally shot camerawoman Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, is now speaking out.
Authorities say the pistol that Baldwin aimed at the camerawoman contained a live round; the actor told investigators he was assured the firearm was “cold,” or empty.
The statement from Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, that was sent to Variety, begins with Reed sending her “deepest and most sincere condolences” to Hutchins’ family, and wishing Souza a “speedy recovery.”
It also states that Hannah is “devastated” by the incident.
The statement then addresses “some untruths that have been told to the media, which have falsely portrayed [Reed] and slandered her.”
The statement continues, “Safety is Hannah’s number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.”
Investigators say they recovered around 500 rounds of ammunition from the set after the incident, including “a mix” of blanks, dummy rounds and live ammunition.
The statement also addresses allegations made by crew members that some of them were shooting cans during downtime on the New Mexico set.
“Hannah…never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that,” the statement claims. “They were locked up every night.”
However, the lawyer also states, “Hannah was hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer.”
Shifting the responsibility from the 24-year-old, who was only working as an armorer on her second film, the statement contends that Reed “fought for training…and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.”
The attorneys then alleges, “The whole production set became unsafe,” adding, “This was not the fault of Hannah.”
Investigators say it’s too early to tell if anyone will be charged in the case.
