On Wednesday, a judge overturned an arbitration panel’s decision to reinstate a Pittsburgh police officer fired for his role in the death of a homeless man suspected of attempting to steal a bicycle.

Officer Keith Edmonds was fired in March 2022, five months after he tasered Jim Rogers 10 times. The meeting was captured on police cameras.

“They’re terrible to watch.” he said Citizens Police Review Board Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger. “The inhumanity we see in these films is simply unthinkable.”

The city settled the Rogers family’s lawsuit for $8 million. Edmonds, nonetheless, argued that his actions had nothing to do with Roger’s death and won his appeal before the arbitration panel by a 2-to-1 majority.

In his ruling, Judge Alan D. Hertzberg he wrote that the two arbitrators who supported Edmonds’ reinstatement “deprived the city of its due process rights by unfairly concluding that Police Officer Keith Edmonds had not violated city policies, rules or regulations when he admitted that he had done so and when the evidence of violations was overwhelming.”

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1 President Robert Swartzwelder, one of the arbitrators named by Hertzberg, called the decision “an egregious departure from legal precedent” and predicted that a state court would overturn it.

(*10*) Swartzwelder said. “The medical evidence overwhelmingly established that Officer Edmonds did not cause the unfortunate death of Jim Rogers. It appears that local politics, rather than legally binding precedent, are at play here.”

The police praised this decision. In a statement, the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP called the ruling “a significant step forward and should only be considered the beginning of a broader movement for justice.”

Rogers, who was already in custody, told officers he couldn’t breathe and asked to be hospitalized. However, body camera footage showed that officers delayed leaving the scene until EMS staff arrived to treat their injuries. By the time Rogers reached the hospital two blocks away, he was unconscious and later died.

“We are grateful that the court’s decision will allow the City of Pittsburgh to hold city employees accountable for their actions and ensure that every resident is treated with dignity and respect,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “We hope this ruling will allow us to close a painful chapter for all those involved in the death of Jim Rogers.”

Since 2022, the Gainey administration has fired 16 officers, a rise from the previous administration led by Mayor Bill Peduto, which fired 10 officers between 2018 and 2021, in response to statistics obtained by a Pittsburgh-based advocacy group.

“I think the message is loud and clear that police misconduct will not be tolerated,” said Brandi Fisher, president of the Alliance for Police Accountability.

The day after two young Black Tennessee lawmakers were expelled by mostly white Republicans last yr, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nashville on a whim to denounce the ousters in an unscripted speech fiery speech.

Getting involved in such a state-level controversy was an unusual move for a sitting vp.

Reps. Justin J. Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson were impeached in the state House of Representatives on expulsion charges after they joined anti-gun violence protesters in the Capitol constructing following a deadly school shooting that killed three 9-year-olds students and three lecturers.

Ultimately, Pearson and Jones – newly elected lawmakers of their 20s at the time – were expelled. Johnson, a white woman, survived the vote to maintain her seat. Pearson and Jones were later reinstated of their respective special elections.

“The vice president’s arrival in Tennessee on April 7, 2023 was one of the most important moments in our fight for justice in Tennessee in decades,” said Rep. Pearson, recalling Harris’ impromptu visit to Fisk University.

More than a yr later, Pearson is giving back to Harris, who’s traveling the country as a surrogate for her historic presidential campaign. Jones can also be a campaign surrogate.

“She came and wrestled for us in Tennessee, so I’m happy to wrestle for her,” Pearson stated.

Now a national figure, Pearson traveled to battleground states comparable to Georgia and North Carolina, in addition to states throughout the South comparable to Virginia and Florida. The 29-year-old state representative is reaching out to voters — particularly young Black voters — about Harris’ policies and what’s at stake on this yr’s election, scheduled for Nov. 5 in only five weeks.

“The energy is just palpable,” Pearson said of the overall mood in the field. “I believe Vice President Harris has high hopes for what she has expressed, whether it be helping first-time homebuyers and (or) enabling small business owners to provide more resources and capital.”

But polls show there continues to be a lag in support and enthusiasm amongst young voters of color. Although Harris leads Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, amongst voters under 35 (in line with a recent CNN poll, 52% to 40%). questionnaire), still lags behind President Joe Biden’s support in 2020.

Pearson found it “challenging” that young voters of color want to interact in the political process out of frustration.

“You don’t know if it’s actually going to benefit you,” he said of young Americans this election campaign.

But Pearson says the sense of apathy is basically resulting from the actions of Republican leaders like Trump and others at the state level.

“We had an administration that caused a million deaths due to mismanagement of the Covid-19 virus,” he said, referring to Trump’s presidency during the pandemic.

“We have seen policy at the state level expel and ban lawmakers instead of banning assault rifles,” he continued. “We have seen even more books being banned at a local level, rather than providing more resources for children to learn.”

Rep. Pearson, meanwhile, said Vice President Harris’ campaign raises issues that matter most to young people and Black and brown communities. That is why he is decided to be certain that as many communities as possible can vote.

“This campaign will be won and lost depending on who is able to knock on those doors, who is able to make those calls, who is able to get people to vote,” he explained.

Voting for Harris will come right down to highlighting her economic agenda and her commitment to solving national issues like gun violence. With just weeks to go before the election, he argues that Harris’ candidacy has “invigorated” voters who “may otherwise have been uninterested” in politics or government.

“The vision that he has and that he shares is more relevant to younger voters in a way that we haven’t seen in this campaign and we certainly don’t see in Donald’s campaign,” Pearson argued.

The economy is a key issue for voters, particularly concerning young voters who cannot afford living costs.

“People don’t have children… you worry about the consequences of increasing greed inflation in your life,” Pearson said. He added: “Or student loan debt… You can’t make the moves you need to if you take on $150,000 in debt.”

The Tennessee lawmaker highlighted Vice President Harris’s work with President Biden to cancel multi-billion dollar student loan debt so that Americans can “affirm their dreams… in a helpful and harmless way by giving money to billionaires.”

Harris also unveiled economic plans to extend the child tax credit to $6,000 for latest parents, provide $25,000 in aid to first-time home buyers and supply tax credits of as much as $50,000 for small business startups. She also vowed to pursue corporations for price gouging.

“We need someone who will show up and give her all on behalf of the entire country, not just the privileged few,” Pearson said of Harris, her support and her leadership.

Reflecting on the day Harris drove nearly 700 miles from the nation’s capital to Nashville, Tennessee, Pearson added: “And so she came in and fought for us, and now I’m fighting for her.”

“Because there will be a cult of Donald Trump,” he added. “We have to make sure our team shows up on the field.”

More history

viral video, sent to X depicting a Black Donald Trump supporter being brutally jumped over by two white MAGA supporters is causing people to clown him on social media.

The video shows an unidentified black man standing in line at a Trump rally in Saginaw, Michigan, being physically attacked by two white men. Passersby were seen filming the encounter, which lasted about 20 seconds. After the video went viral, the man, labeled a MAGA supporter as a consequence of his shiny red sweatshirt and Trump hat, received more blows online as netizens began to affix him.

Democratic account holder @popularliberal laughed off the incident. “Aha…that’s what they get!!!” – he said.

Book influencer @whatupsisi retweeted a screenshot of the attack, saying, “when you clown…”

One user wondered why he was there, and one other asked if he thought his outfit was enough to be “included.” “When 90 percent of the people attending these rallies are racists, that’s exactly what you’d expect. Did a black Trump supporter think he would be welcomed at a Trump rally?” – wrote @dwericks2.

@TruWordsRSpoken compared the encounter to when a white lawmaker patted Republican Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.) on the head, referring to a different way of saying “good boy.”

The reality is that there is an influx of Black Trump supporters in the battleground state of Michigan. He says black voters make up nearly 13% of Michigan’s electorate, and polls show Vice President Kamala Harris gaining confidence amongst black votersTrump continues to persist in Michigan. The poll shows a big decline in Democratic support for young voters.

Young voters, nonetheless, are very specific about what they expect from Trump if he is elected in November. Michigan voters I need him to focus more on the economyin particular, creating jobs and reducing inflation. As a battleground state in 2016, it barely managed to win over voters, but they imagine that if it changes its focus a bit, the 2024 elections might be its.