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Cornel West’s VP pick backed defund the police, praised Farrakhan: 5 things to know

Cornel West’s VP pick backed defund the police, praised Farrakhan: 5 things to know

Long-shot presidential candidate Cornel West announced his pick for a running mate on Wednesday, tapping Melina Abdullah, a professor and co-founder of Black Lives Matter’s Los Angeles chapter who has an extensive political history. Here are five things to know about Abdullah that she is unlikely to talk about publicly during her campaign. Police were forced to drag Abdullah out of a mayoral debate taking place on California State University LA’s campus in 2022. Abdullah was protesting the fact that barely 50 people were allowed inside the campus auditorium to view the debate, and that students and faculty were not allowed to enter. CORNEL WEST DITCHES GREEN PARTY; NOW RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AS AN INDEPENDENT Abduallh was a Cal State LA professor at the time, and she clarified that police only removed her from the premises and did not arrest her. “I should have been able to watch the mayoral debate that was happening on my own campus. I’m still processing the fact that Raphe Sonenshein, someone who called himself a friend, who I’ve known well since I was in graduate school, called the police and had me forcibly and brutally removed,” Abdullah said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, referencing one of the co-sponsors of the debate. “I’m processing that as I was yelling for help, that I was being hurt and called for Karen Bass and Kevin De León … two people who have been very close for more than 20 years, they said nothing, not even a simple ‘Please put her down,’ nor did any other candidate. It’s both hurtful and outrageous,” she added. While Abduallah is a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, that doesn’t mean she always gets along with the rest of the organization. In 2022, Abdullah sued Shalomyah Bowers, an executive at the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. She alleged that Bowers had been using the organization as his “personal piggy bank” and had paid over $10 million to his consulting firm using non-profit funds. CORNEL WEST SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY ‘BEYOND REDEMPTION’ Abdullah said at a press conference at the time that “the assets that we built, the financial resources, the social media platforms and the name ‘Black Lives Matter’ have been taken from us and are under the control of consultants.” BLMGNF’s board of directors denied the allegations in a lengthy statement prior to hearings in the case.  “Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is here to give light and fight for Black liberation,” the statement said in part. “Make no mistake, the allegations of Melina Abdullah and BLM Grassroots (BLMGR) are false. They are slanderous and devoid of reality.” Abdullah’s lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and she was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in legal fees to Bowers. Abdullah has repeatedly and emphatically praised Minister Louis Farrakhan throughout his years of anti-American and antisemitic controversies. A brief review of Abdullah’s personal account on X shows that she has praised and quoted the Nation of Islam leader for years, going back nearly a decade to 2015. “Humbled, overwhelmed, and profoundly grateful 2 share space with @louisfarrakhan #JusticeOrElse,” she wrote in June 2015 alongside a picture of the minister. Her appreciation for Farrakhan remained consistent for the next several years, with her defending him on social media in 2019.  CORNEL WEST SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY ‘BEYOND REDEMPTION’ “We should all be outraged by the banning of Minister @LouisFarrakhan from Instagram and Facebook. Loving Black people and wanting freedom and self-determination for us does not constitute ‘Black supremacy.’ In a country built on our backs there can be no ‘Black supremacy,’” she wrote at the time. “Now Is the Time to Defund the Police and Reimagine Public Safety,” Abdullah told PBS in a 2022 interview. Abdullah pushed for extensive reforms to policing in Los Angeles in the wake of the George Floyd protests in 2020, and she also aggressively opposed an increase in police budget proposed in LA in 2023. “The overwhelming number of Angelenos want to divest from policing and parking enforcement, and invest in the things that actually keep communities safe,” Abdullah told KCRW in August last year after the city voted to increase the police budget by $384 million. She went on to argue that the pay hike for police was “out of step with what the people say that they want” and suggested that politicians were afraid of retaliation by the city’s police union. The Los Angeles Police Department sent officers Abdullah’s home during the heat of George Floyd protests in August 2020 after receiving a hoax phone call. The LAPD said they received a call claiming there were three hostages being held inside Abdullah’s home. The practice of calling in fake 911 calls is known as “swatting,” a serious crime that has gained prevalence in recent years. “After the officers were able to verify the safety of the residents, the on-scene investigation determined the call was a hoax,” the LAPD said in a statement at the time. Abdullah rejected the explanation from police, however, claiming in a video that police were trying to “throw me off my game.” “Dozens and dozens of police, LAPD and others, showed up at my house this morning, guns drawn, assault rifles drawn, really terrorizing me and my children. We’re OK,” Abdullah said at the time. “I don’t ever believe the words of the police,” she continued. “You shouldn’t either.” Fox News’ Evie Fordham contributed to this report

Nebraska lawmakers propose tax-funded school choice bill

Nebraska lawmakers propose tax-funded school choice bill

Nebraska lawmakers are on track to pass a bill that would circumvent an upcoming ballot initiative in which voters could repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with taxpayer money. The bill from Omaha Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, the author of last year’s Opportunity Scholarships Act, advanced late Wednesday to a final round of debate, just a day after advancing from the first round of debate. It would change the way the private school scholarships, enacted last year, are funded. The law passed last year by Nebraska’s officially nonpartisan Legislature did not appropriate taxpayer dollars directly to private school tuition. Instead, it allowed businesses and individuals to donate as much as $100,000 per year of their owed state income tax to nonprofit organizations that award private school tuition scholarships. Estates and trusts could donate as much as $1 million a year. That dollar-for-dollar tax credit is money that would otherwise go into the state’s general revenue fund. NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE REJECTS TRUMP-APPROVED ‘WINNER-TAKE-ALL’ ELECTORAL SYSTEM BILL The law triggered an immediate pushback from public school advocates who blasted the measure as a “school voucher scheme” that would hurt enrollment, and therefore funding, for public schools and would allow taxpayer dollars to go to private schools that are allowed under religious tenets to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students. Those critics organized a petition drive to ask voters to repeal the law, and the drive collected far more signatures than needed to get the question on the November ballot. Acknowledging that voters might reject the new law, Linehan, a Republican, is now pushing a bill that would directly fund the private school scholarships from state coffers, thereby rendering moot any vote on a repeal of last year’s law. The move drew renewed protests from opponents. Jenni Benson, president of the state’s largest teachers union and a leader of the petition initiative, called Linehan’s new bill “a slap in the face to the 117,415 Nebraskans who signed the successful referendum petition to have voters decide the issue on the November ballot.” Some lawmakers said Linehan’s new bill violates the Nebraska Constitution, which explicitly forbids the appropriation of public funds to nonpublic schools. Linehan countered that direct funding is allowed under a 1984 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that allowed state funds to be used for scholarships at either public or private colleges. “The voters deserve an opportunity to be heard on this,” Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh, a Democrat, said Tuesday during debate. “I disagree with the idea that we’re going to interject ourselves between the petition process and the voters before they have their opportunity to be heard.” Wednesday night’s debate went much the way Tuesday’s had, with proponents of the bill saying their intent was to give students whose parents might not otherwise be able to afford it a choice to go to a private school if their public school is failing them. Opponents maintained that voters should get the right to decide if they want public dollars to be reserved for public schools. “Let’s not do tricks to try to repeal bills once a referendum comes through,” said Sen. Wendy DeBoer, a Democrat, said Wednesday night. “Let’s let the people of Nebraska decide.” Linehan’s effort to rejigger the bill has not been without struggle. She drastically lowered the amount allocated in last year’s measure using tax credits, which had allotted $25 million this year and in 2025, and up to $100 million annually thereafter to cover such donations. She dropped that amount to $10 million a year, with no escalation in the future, in an effort to secure more votes. She got just enough votes to end a filibuster and advance the bill both Tuesday and Wednesday. It is likely to get enough votes to get through a final round of debate and pass before the end of the session’s last day on April 18.

Handful of vulnerable Dems will decide fate of Mayorkas impeachment trial

Handful of vulnerable Dems will decide fate of Mayorkas impeachment trial

A handful of Democratic senators in vulnerable election contests in November could decide whether there’s an impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “We have to look at the impeachment documents first,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told reporters Tuesday in a departure from his previous suggestion the impeachment amounted to “political games.” The Montana Democrat is in the throes of arguably the most competitive Senate election matchup in 2024. He is expected to face former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. The race is one of four “toss-ups,” according to leading non-partisan political handicapper The Cook Political Report.  Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., also left his options open for how he would vote if Democrats seek a quick procedural off-ramp for the trial, which Republicans expect. READ MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE FROM FOX NEWS DIGITAL “We’ll see what transpires from there, once being sworn in,” Casey told Fox News Digital. “I don’t think anyone knows what will transpire.” Casey faces a significant challenge in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where the likely Republican nominee is Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund executive and combat veteran. The Cook Political Report has the contest rated “lean Democratic.”  GOP PLANS TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT IF DEMOCRATS TABLE MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL In keeping with their fellow vulnerable colleagues, senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, each avoided saying what they plan to do if a motion to table the impeachment trial is put forward. “I am not as convinced as you are that the question before the Senate will be a tabling question. I know the press is saying that. I have not heard that,” Baldwin told Fox News Digital.  Numerous Democrats recently shared their expectations with Fox News Digital that their caucus will look to quickly dismiss the impeachment trial via a procedural maneuver. Senate Republicans have also accused Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of planning to do so. However, Schumer has given no indication about his plans for an impeachment trial.  “They still haven’t sent anything over. How do you know they’re going to?” Brown asked, referencing the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., decided Tuesday to delay sending impeachment articles against Mayorkas to Schumer until next week. He did so at the request of several GOP senators who did not want the impeachment trial proceedings to take place at the end of the week, when senators will be heading home.  DEM SENATORS VOICE CONCERNS OVER ISRAEL WAR STATUS AS BIDEN ATTEMPTS ‘CHALLENGING’ BALANCE WITH PROGRESSIVES “Why don’t we actually do something on the border instead of waiting for the dysfunctional House to send over impeachment articles for the first time in 100 years?” Brown asked. Similar to Tester, Brown is embroiled in a “toss-up” race against Trump-endorsed GOP nominee Bernie Moreno. Baldwin’s matchup, like Casey’s, is considered “lean Democratic.” The frontrunner for the GOP nomination in Wisconsin is businessman Eric Hovde. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., told Fox News Digital she wants to see the impeachment trial dismissed.  “We should dismiss this,” she said Wednesday.  Rosen’s race was recently moved from “lean Democratic” to “toss-up” by the political handicapper, illustrating the pivotal role swing state Nevada figures to play in November. The Republican primary in Nevada has yet to take place, but the frontrunner, who has the blessing of GOP Senate leaders, is Army veteran Captain Sam Brown. GOP SENATORS CONVINCE SPEAKER JOHNSON TO DELAY MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ARTICLE DELIVERY Several of the vulnerable Democrats pointed to a bipartisan border package that had been recently negotiated by senators Chris Murphy, D-Conn., James Lankford, R-Okla, and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., earlier this year. The measure quickly lost steam after former President Trump came out against it.  “That would have solved a lot of the problems on our border,” Rosen told Fox News Digital.  “We have the legislation there that would fix these problems,” she said. “You don’t impeach. We are a legislative body.” “The law would hire — we’d be able to hire thousands more Border Patrol agents and do a much better job at stopping fentanyl at the border. So, we should get that done,” said Casey.  MCCONNELL LOOKS TO CEMENT LEGACY AS ‘REAGAN REPUBLICAN’ WITH CRUSADE FOR UKRAINE SUPPORT However, Republicans argued at the time that the negotiated package didn’t go far enough and included harmful provisions.  While its unclear what some of the Democrats in tough re-election battles will do once the impeachment articles against Mayorkas are delivered, there are also questions on the Republican side. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters Tuesday “a high crime or misdemeanor has not been alleged, and the standard has not been met for a conviction. “I don’t know that you want to go on for several weeks pointing out the obvious, which is that the border is a disaster. Secretary Mayorkas is following the position of his party and of the president who was elected.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, refused to indicate what action she would take.  “I’m going to be sworn in as a juror. The role of senators is both juror and judge. And, thus, I don’t comment on how I am going to vote until it occurs,” she explained.  Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Akebono, sumo’s first foreign-born grand champion, dies aged 54

Akebono, sumo’s first foreign-born grand champion, dies aged 54

The enormous Hawaiian-born wrestler helped raise the international profile of Japanese sumo wrestling in the 1990s. Akebono, an American-born sumo wrestler who became the first non-Japanese grand champion or “Yokozuna”, died of heart failure this month in Tokyo, the sumo association said on Thursday. He was 54. The winner of 11 championships – the 10th most in modern sumo history – Akebono was physically imposing at 203cm (6 feet 8 inches) and 233kg (514 pounds). His fighting style relied on his immense size to thrust his foes out of the ring. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono was a college basketball player who was recruited by the head of a Japanese sumo stable, who was also Hawaiian. He entered the sumo world in 1988 and rose to its highest rank of Yokozuna in January 1993, becoming modern sumo’s 64th Yokozuna. He later became a Japanese citizen, taking the name Taro Akebono. As a foreigner, Akebono followed in the footsteps of the even bigger Konishiki, also from Hawaii, and alongside fellow Yokozuna Musashimaru, originally from American Samoa. “Throughout his 35 years in Japan, Akebono strengthened the cultural ties between the United States and his adopted homeland by uniting us all through sport,” US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel Emanuel posted on X. Akebono also regularly appeared as a celebrity on Japanese TV shows, and after retiring from sumo in 2001 fought in various mixed martial arts and professional wrestling events. “RIP to the Mighty Akebono,” posted Samoa Joe, the current world champion of AEW pro wrestling. “The epitome of a Yokozuna, both a warrior and a gentleman. A hui hou.” Akebono is survived by his wife, daughter and two sons. Adblock test (Why?)