NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
GOP convention: Republicans expect to move their national convention from Charlotte, N.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., a shift planned after President Trump told the governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, a Democrat, that he did not want to use social distancing measures aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus. The decision could change, three senior Republicans cautioned, but officials are on track to announce the new location as early as Thursday. Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, where Ron DeSantis, a Republican and Trump ally, is the governor and where Mayor Lenny Curry is also a Republican.
Officer charged: A Los Angeles police officer has been charged with assault for punching an unarmed trespassing suspect more than a dozen times in an encounter caught on video by a bystander, prosecutors say. Video from the bystander and cameras worn by officers show Officer Frank Hernandez pummeling the man on April 27 as he stood with his hands behind his back, as if he was going to be handcuffed. The charge comes less than a week after thousands of protesters galvanized by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis called for the ouster of District Attorney Jackie Lacey for doing little to prosecute police officers for shootings and other violence on the job.
Georgia senate race: Jon Ossoff, a young Georgia media executive known for breaking fundraising records during a 2017 special election loss for a House seat, beat back a field of Democratic primary opponents to win a spot taking on Republican Sen. David Perdue in November. Ossoff received about 50.7% of the votes, according to votes tallied as of Wednesday night. That allows him to avoid a potentially bruising primary runoff that had been seen as likely and sets up a showdown with Perdue, 70, as Republicans look to hold the Senate majority.
Flynn case: Former New York U.S. District Judge John Gleeson, appointed to review the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, has found that the government’s request should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power.” In a filing Wednesday, Gleeson wrote the government “has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President.” Flynn pleaded guilty, as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, to lying to the FBI about conversations with the thenRussian ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
Confederate officers: President Trump on Wednesday said he will not consider changing the name of any of the 10 Army bases that are named for Confederate Army officers. Two days earlier, Defense Secretary Mark Esper indicated that he was open to a broad discussion of such changes. “These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom,” Trump wrote. “My Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations.”
Chronicle News Services