Tag-Archive for » arizona «
Lee, who last month left his post temporarily amid criticism of his handling of the Trayvon Martin case, had planned to step down permanently, according to CNN. The Sanford City Commission held a meeting Monday afternoon to vote on the resignation.
Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett said he would wait until an investigation into Lee’s conduct is concluded before weighing in on the matter.
“I’m not ready to have him come back and run the police department,” Triplett told CNN. “But I don’t know if I’m ready for this either.”
Lee–who was harshly criticized for not arresting Martin’s shooter, George Zimmerman, on the night of the Feb. 26 shooting–initially announced he would step aside until the public furor receded.
“I am aware that my role as the head of the department has become a distraction,” Lee said at press conference on March 22. “I have come to the decision to temporarily remove myself.”
Capt. Darren Scott, who has served as interim chief during Lee’s absence, will remain in that position for now.
Zimmerman was released early Monday after posting a $150,000 bond.
He was fitted with an electronic monitoring device before leaving the John E. Polk Correctional Facility, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said.
Six people were killed and at least 12 wounded in a late-morning shooting at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Ariz, this morning, reports the LA Times.
Among those injured is U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was reportedly shot point-blank in the head.
Giffords was taken to Northwest Medical Center, where she underwent surgery. A doctor at the hospital said at a news conference that she is in critical condition but that he is “optimistic” about her survival.
Here’s information about the shooter via HuffingtonPost.com:
Jared Laughner, the man who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was described by eyewitnesses as a young white man who looked like a “fringe character.”
Laughner shot Giffords and 12 others at a public event at a Safeway grocery store in Tucscon. He reportedly shot the congresswoman “point blank” in the head and may have come from inside the store. After shooting Giffords, he allegedly fired 20-30 rounds and hit “a number of people,” including a child. He attempted to flee after running out of ammunition and was tackled by one of Giffords’ staffers.
Eyewitnesses have described Laughner as “young, mid-to-late 20s, white, clean-shaven with short hair and wearing dark clothing.”
He was arrested upon arrival of the sheriff’s department.
Reverend Al Sharpton emailed this statement to EUR on the Gabrielle Giffords shooting:
“We are calling upon churches throughout America to pray for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the families of those that were wounded or killed in the tragedy that took place in Arizona. In church services tomorrow clergymen ought to address the senseless violence that has too often raised its head of late in the social and political discourse of this country. We call on a thorough and expedited investigation of all aspects of this act.”
Reverend Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network
U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head while holding a public event in Tucson, according to multiple news reports
Fox News said Giffords was shot point blank in the head by an unidentified gunman who also indiscriminately shot at least 11 others. The network said the gunman is in custody.
Giffords, 40, a Democrat, is married to U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly. She took office in January 2007, emphasizing issues such as immigration reform, embryonic stem-cell research, alternative energy sources and a higher minimum wage.
The instant Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were gunned down at a public meet-and-greet in Tucson, leaving six dead-including a federal judge, several retirees, and a 9-year-old student council representative-Tea Party grandmaster Sarah Palin and leaders of her movement swung into damage-control mode.
Palin offered condolences to the families of the shooting victims and called for prayers for peace and justice. Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer went further and condemned the shootings as “an attack on the democratic process.”
Palin’s and Kremer’s expressions of outrage are undoubtedly sincere and heartfelt. But those fine sentiments don’t absolve them of blame for helping to create the hyper-vicious, borderline-vigilante climate that has provoked more than one unbalanced kook -as the alleged shooter Jared Loughner clearly is-to blast away at innocents, under the guise of striking back at someone or something whose politics, ideas, religion, or race they hate.
That this country had entered a new era-where it was some thought it permissible to take the law into their own hands and bombard public officials with life-threatening letters, texts, phone calls, and in some cases physical attacks-was plainly evident during and after the health care reform debate last year.
Nearly a dozen Democrats and Republicans received threatening messages. Republican Rep. Eric Cantor got a bullet through his campaign-office window. Other legislators had their windows broken and their tires slashed. Palin didn’t help matters with her oft-quoted exhortation to conservatives to “reload”-complete with photos of her on hunting forays, gun in hand. Palin and GOP leaders drove home their message that political opponents-i.e. liberal and moderate Democrats-were ripe for attack when she plastered an image of crosshairs in a Facebook post listing 20 vulnerable House Democrats who had voted for health care reform. Giffords was one of them.
Palin sensed the dangerous line that she had edged up to with her depiction of Democrats in the GOP’s gun sights. She protested that she was not calling for anyone to slaughter them with weapons but to vote them out of office.
With all the commentaries coming from various states regarding Arizona’s decision on
in essence profiling, have you look into your own backyards for justice.
I’m not upholding Arizona’s decision, but for other states to get on the band wagon is
not fare. To denied essential goods into the state whether commerce or social activities.
is not right. We do understand there is a serious plight of unemployment throughout the
nation, this effects more than just your average commentaries. Let the politicians hammer
out a definitive agreement, with a compromise for all involved. I’m not saying I agree or
disagree, but be fair in your judgement analysis of immigration.
At this point, I believe most Americans would accept the jobs folks thought we wouldn’t
work. Bills have to be paid, families cared for and raised. The state in which I reside wants
to ban certain aspects of Arizona to our state, are you kidding me. Our city is a mess let’s
try to cleanup our own backyard prior to denouncing another. With any decisions comes changes
and challenges, how we cope with those states who we are.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the country’s toughest illegal-immigration bill into law two years ago, setting off a long legal battle with the Obama administration and inspiring half a dozen states to emulate Arizona and pass similar laws. On Wednesday, the federal government and Arizona will face off at the Supreme Court, where Justice Department lawyers will try to convince the court that the law is an unconstitutional invasion into the federal government’s turf.
A federal judge blocked four major aspects of the law before they ever went into effect, including the provision that local police officers check the immigration status of people during stops if they have reason to suspect they lack legal status. Provisions making it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work, or for any immigrant to fail to carry immigration papers, were also blocked. Last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision and shot down most of the law.
Although public opinion polls showed that most Americans supported the law’s provisions after it passed, the minority opposition was passionate, and it set off a national debate about illegal immigration that has permeated the presidential elections. Opponents argued that the law would encourage racial profiling and branded Arizona the “show me your papers” state. More than 100 different parties, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and dozens of states, have filed friend-of-the-court briefs weighing in on the law.
Three interesting twists are likely to make this case even more high-profile—and political—than it already has been. First of all, Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates for the presidency have blasted the Obama administration for suing Arizona in the first place, using it as a way to paint the president as soft on illegal immigration and intrusive on states’ rights. Secondly, a familiar face will represent Arizona’s case: Paul Clement, the lawyer who argued against Obama’s health care law before the Supreme Court earlier this month, will once again take center stage. Lastly, Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from the case because she was solicitor general when the government first filed suit against Arizona. That means the court could theoretically split 4-4 in its decision. If this happens, the 9th Circuit decision stands and the law will remain blocked. But that outcome would give little guidance to states not in the 9th Circuit that have passed or want to pass laws similar to Arizona’s, and would leave unsettled the question of how far states can go in combating illegal immigration.