Minneapolis to spend $6.4M hiring police
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis is planning to spend $6.4 million to hire dozens of police officers, at a time when some City Council members and activist groups have been advocating to replace the police department after George Floyd's death.
The City Council voted unanimously Friday to approve the additional funding that police requested. The department says it only has 638 officers available to work -- roughly 200 fewer than usual. An unprecedented number of officers quit or went on extended medical leave after Floyd's death and the unrest that followed, which included the burning of a police precinct.
With new recruit classes, the city anticipates it will have 674 officers available at the end of the year, with another 28 in the hiring process, the Star Tribune reported.
Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck even as he said he couldn't breathe. Floyd's death sparked protests and led to a nationwide reckoning on race. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and is scheduled for trial March 8. Three other former officers are charged with aiding and abetting, and are scheduled for trial in August.
While there have been calls to dismantle the department after Floyd's death, some residents have begged the city to hire more officers, citing longer response times and an increase in violent crime.
White House says press aide resigned
WASHINGTON -- White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo resigned a day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the move in a statement Saturday, saying Ducklo's decision came with the support of White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
"We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions," Psaki said.
It marks the first departure from the new White House, less than a month into President Joe Biden's tenure.
High court OKs extradition of father, son
BOSTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way Saturday for the extradition of an American father and son wanted by Japan in the escape of former Nissan Motor Co. boss Carlos Ghosn.
Justice Stephen Breyer denied a bid to put the extradition on hold to give Michael and Peter Taylor time to pursue an appeal in their case challenging the U.S. officials' plans to hand them over to Japan.
Michael Taylor, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, and his son are accused of helping Ghosn, who led the Japanese automaker for two decades, flee the country last year with Ghosn tucked away in a box on a private jet. The flight went first to Turkey, and then to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship but which has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Lawyers for the Taylors argue the men can't legally be extradited and will be treated unfairly in the Japan. Their lawyers told the Supreme Court in a brief filed Friday that the men would face harsh treatment in the Japanese criminal justice system.
U.S. authorities had said they would not hand the men over to Japan while their bid for a stay was pending before Breyer, an attorney for the Taylors said.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston refused Thursday to put the extradition on hold, finding that the Taylors are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case. The Taylors have been locked up at a suburban Boston jail since their arrest last May.
Ghosn was out on bail at the time of his escape and awaiting trial on allegations that he underreported his income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain. Ghosn said he fled because he could not expect a fair trial, was subjected to unfair conditions in detention and was barred from meeting his wife under his bail conditions. Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing.
N.Y. urges dismissal of NRA bankruptcy
DALLAS -- Attorneys for the state of New York asked a bankruptcy judge Friday to throw out the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy case, saying the case was filed in bad faith.
In a 41-page brief filed in the bankruptcy court in Dallas, New York's attorneys asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee if outright dismissal was denied.
The state asserts that the NRA filed the bankruptcy petition while claiming to be solvent and "in its strongest financial condition in years," according to the petition.
The NRA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the New York attorney general sued to seek the organization's dissolution. It also announced plans to move its headquarters from New York and incorporate in gun-friendly Texas.
A message seeking comment from the NRA on the filing was not immediately returned.