Officer loses job for racial remark
Apolice department in Georgiais firing one of its officersafter he was filmedon a dashboard cameratrying to convince awhite woman that she hadnothing to worry aboutduring a traffic stop becauseshe was not black.
Ata news conference Thursday afternoon, ChiefMike Register of the CobbCounty Police Departmentsaid the commentswere “inexcusable and-inappropriate.”
Lt.Abbott’s lawyer, LanceLoRusso, said in a statementthat the 28-year veteranof the force was cooperatingwith the internal investigation.
“Hewas attempting to de-escalate a situation involvingan uncooperative passenger,”Mr. LoRusso said.
Thevideo shows Lt. Abbotttelling the woman, a passenger,that she could useher cell phone. She repliesthat she has seen “waytoo many videos” abouthow police behave at traffic stops.
“Butyou’re not black,” Lt.Abbott replies. “Remember,we only kill blackpeople. Yeah. We only kill black people, right?”
FCC spammed
The Federal CommunicationsCommission on Thursdayswam in a sea of nearly22 million commentsafter a deadline passedfor the public to commenton an issue that couldshape the internet for years.
Butthe comments may settle little. Millions of themappeared to come fromrobotic networks, or bots,and were the equivalentof spam mail.
The confusion generated by the fake comments left powerful telecommunicationsand cable companies battling withcitizen advocacy groupsover the true natureof public sentiment aheadof an open FCC meetingSept. 28.
Atstake is a principle knownas net neutrality thatbars internet service providersfrom slowing downaccess to the internet,or forcing consumers andcompanies to pay morefor certain types of webcontent.
Milwaukee sheriff walks
MilwaukeeCounty SheriffDavid A. Clarke Jr. —the controversial, Stetson-wearingofficial who rose to national prominence with his no-holdsbar red conservative rhetoric—resigned his office Thursday.
Mr.Clarke, in his fourthterm, submitted hisresignation Thursday.
Politico reported Thursdaythat Mr. Clarke isexpected to take a job in PresidentDonald Trump’ s administration. Butsources close to the sheriff disputed that.
Abortion law halted
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would restrict the most common type of second-trimester abortion.
In a ruling Thursday, Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found that opponents of the law had shown “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits,” and granted a two-week restraining order while the case proceeds. The restriction had been scheduled to take effect Friday.
Also in the nation ...
The Florida Supreme Court declined to return 29 death penalty cases Gov. Rick Scott took away from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala on Thursday, who had refused to pursue the death penalty against anyone.