A Tuscaloosa man was reportedly beaten up last Friday by two men after they asked him whether he was gay.
The alleged attack took place outside of the Green Bar according to WIAT.
The victim in the case, Johnny Bishop said that two men attacked him after they peppered him with questions about his sexuality. There was also a woman involved in the incident, she seems to have served as the driver of the getaway car.
“Despite the fact that my face was gushing blood and I was sitting on the pavement and the assailant was right there next to us, police said they could not make an arrest at that point,” Johnny Bishop the victim in the case told WIAT.
Bishop was with his friend Katherine Snider during the time of the incident.
She also spoke to local tv about the situation.
“He was bleeding so badly, I’m not sure where the third guy was, at about that time they drove out of here in the SUV with the girl driving, she had the window down and was kind of smirking,” Snider told WIAT. “This is extremely traumatic, I’m scared to go to my favorite bar now, I’m scared to go to any bar in Tuscaloosa now.”
Both Bishop and Snider are Tuscaloosa residents.
Tuscaloosa police obtained a warrant to arrest one of the suspects in the beating.
WATCH: WIAT interview with Bishop
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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AUDIO: North Miami Police Chief Tells FDLE How Dysfunctional Department Is
In audio recorded during a Florida Department of Law Enforcement interview with North Miami Police Chief Gary Eugene in the aftermath of the Charles Kinsey shooting in July, 2016, Eugene outlined some troubling things about his department.
Eugene who took over as the North Miami Police Chief six days before the shooting of Kinsey made his department sound like a more crooked version of the Keystone Cops.
Some highlights from the audio obtained by the Miami New Times:
The cop who shot Kinsey knew the autistic kid was holding a toy and not a gun
“I [Chief Eugene] heard the shooter, Officer Aledda, make a statement to the nature of, ‘Be advised, I have clear shot [at] subject. Later on, a sergeant … got on the air and said, ‘I have a visual, it is a toy. Is it a toy? QRX.’ That means, ‘Stand by, don’t do anything.’ Then, there is a conversation back and forth. The next transmission was by [another officer saying] ‘Shot fired!’”
The North Miami police are horribly trained
“The scene was a mess, to be honest with you… People were walking all over the place. Thank God [Kinsey] did not die. I realized I have a problem with the training of my staff. We’re talking about some 15- or 16-year veterans, but in North Miami, a 15- or 16-year veteran may have less experience than a two-year cop in Miami.”
Some of the cops don’t like each other very much
“I find out that that commander who got suspended and Angel Rivera, who was the commander at the scene- they don’t like each other, it is dangerous… I realized there is so much animosity among them that anything I say can be used for the officer against the officer.”
Chief Eugene was worried that his department couldn’t fairly investigate the shooting
“They were more concerned about clearing the officer of any wrong doing than actually conducting an impartial investigation… I realized the chemistry of what was going on. At that time I decided not to talk to anyone…because I have a better picture of what is going on in my department… it is sad but it is the reality.”
City Manager Larry Spring refused to listen to Eugene
“I said, ‘City Manager, I’m telling you, listen to this CD and make a decision based on this CD,'” Eugene said. “[Spring] slapped his hand on the desk and said, ‘You don’t understand what I’m telling you. Get control of your people!'”
Assistant Chief Larry Juriga lied to Eugene
From the Miami New Times story:
“Eugene said he immediately went to Spring and City Attorney Jeff Cazeau with the information. They all agreed to suspend Hollant. But on the drive home, Eugene had second thoughts. He recalled that Juriga and Hollant didn’t get along, so he decided to listen to the audio from the shooting himself. That’s when he realized Juriga had lied.”
The State Attorney’s Office is “Very Close” to coming to a decision on whether to indict Jonathan Aledda
Ed Griffith, a spokesman for Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s office, told the Miami New Times that, “we are very close to coming to a decision” in the case.
A RISE NEWS investigation previously found that the cop who shot Kinsey had not been properly trained for how to deal with people who have developmental disabilities.
In fact, the North Miami police department does not any “specific policies” in terms of how its officers interact with people with disabilities, including autism.
Aledda shot unarmed therapist Charles Kinsey three times in the leg in a North Miami street. Kinsey was in the street trying to help an autistic patient.
Listen to the full interview:
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University Of Alabama Must Expel Student Who Used Racist Threats
The University of Alabama must immediately expel Ryan Parish or it will lose standing in the fight for racial justice.
As an alumnus of the University, I can’t conscience sharing a degree with the likes of a person like Mr. Parish.
His remaining as a student at Alabama would cheapen all of us and would cheapen the efforts made in recent decades to fix the wrongs of hundreds of years of state sponsored white supremacy.
And our University should rise to the occasion and do the right thing.
For those that are just becoming aware of the situation, Mr. Parish is a pre law student at the University.
He got into a heated back and forth on a publicly viewable Facebook ticket exchange with some students over his disagreements with a student led protest of the nation anthem at last week’s football game.
He then called a fellow student a “nigger” and said that he would kill that person if they spoke to him “wrong.”
After his online comments were posted publicly, they spread wildly on social media.
The University promptly suspended him. And they were right to do so.
However, they have not gone far enough.
Mr. Parish must be expelled from the University of Alabama.
This is not a matter of free speech.
And it is not a matter of education.
It is about hate. Plain and simple.
Mr. Parish can’t be taught not to say those things to a fellow human being in a college setting.
Attending the University of Alabama is a privilege, not a right.
And Mr. Parish is not the type of person that we should want at our fair Capstone.
We already have so much to atone for and we have already graduated enough white supremacists in our history.
George Wallace was enough for all history.
Don Black is a living shame.
On matters of racial justice, Alabama cannot be mealy-mouthed.
It must have zero tolerance for racism and lead the nation in standing up for the rights of minorities and in being an example for how we want our society to be in the future.
Mr. Parish’s racist tirade on social media is not an isolated incident in recent UA history.
It took another national shame- and scores of national reporters to invade the Capstone to lead to the start of desegregation of sororities on campus. That was only three years ago.
Mr. Parish did apologize for his comments in a post on social media:
“I’m absolutely torn and saddened. I apologize so much for what I said. I know an apology isn’t enough but I’ll do what I can to make up for it. I love every student here. I made a TERRIBLE mistake and I can’t apologize enough. I’m sorry students of Alabama. I am not that type of person.”
What you can do Mr. Parish is commit your life to fighting to racial justice and work to change your heart.
But the University of Alabama should not be spending a dime trying to do it for you.
We have progress to make and we need all hands on deck.
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What The Election Of Florida’s Racist, Conspiracy Believing Governor In 1916 Should Teach Us About 2016
By Patricia Ray
A successful businessman with no political experience decides to run for office and finds success while taping into populist sentiment.
Sound like a modern political tale, huh?
As the old saying goes, nothing is ever truly new under the sun.
The 1916 Florida gubernatorial election was not an ordinary election and Sidney Johnston Catts was not an ordinary candidate.
He was a political outsider to say the least – an ordained Baptist minister in Alabama who later moved to Florida and became an insurance salesman.
Only a few years after moving to Florida, he decided to run for governor as a Democrat, despite having no prior political experience.
In addition to his lack of experience, Catts also was known for having outlandish beliefs.
He was staunchly anti-Catholic and anti-African American, and he believed that monks from St. Leo’s Abbey and the African American population of Florida would take over the state for Kaiser Wilhelm II, and if Germany won the war, Pope Benedict XV would move the Holy See to San Antonio, Florida.
Yep. He seriously believed that.
He even carried a gun in fear that the Pope has sent an assassin to kill him.
Catts giving his inaugural address. Photo Credit: Florida Memory.
Catts advocated for radical ideas such as women’s suffrage, taxation of church property, and a state income tax, much to the chagrin of the conservative, Democratic-controlled Florida legislature.
Read More: The Incredible Story Of How A College Student Singlehandedly Changed The Constitution
At the same time, his racism went so far as to claim African Americans were “an inferior race” in response to lynchings in Florida.
Catts supported prohibition and did not attend his own inaugural ball because he opposed dancing.
Catts’ slogan was “Florida Crackers have only three friends in this world: God Almighty, Sears Roebuck, and Sidney Johnston Catts,” and he became known as the “Cracker Messiah.”
A political cartoon depicting the isolationist mood felt by many in 1916. Photo Credit: Jena Fuller/Flickr (CC by-SA 1.0)
“People did not take him seriously [as a candidate], and when they finally did, it was too late,” Dr. Gary Mormino, a Florida historian and the Professor Emeritus at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg said in an interview with RISE NEWS.
As eccentric as Catts’ beliefs were, many of them resonated with the public.
Due to the anxiety of World War I, anti-German sentiments were high, and Catts’ fear mongering heightened anxieties.
Florida was a primarily Protestant state, with Catholics comprising less than 5% of the population at the time.
In the years before 1916, millions of Irish, Slavic, and Italian Catholics immigrated to the United States, and many people felt uneasy about these immigrants. The Protestant population largely was also in favor of prohibition, and Florida was already in the midst of becoming a dry state.
Catts played into the zeitgeist of the prohibition movement.
These views went hand in hand, and Catts claimed, “There is no question and rum and Romanism go together.”
Dr. Mormino describes Catts as a “larger than life figure” and attributes some of Catts’ success to his charisma and strength as a speaker.
People liked his message and viewed him as “one of them”.
In past elections, whoever won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor typically won, as the Republicans were a minority party in much of the American South.
Read More: The Infamous Borgia Family Is Still Around And More Important Than You May Think
But in 1916, the Democrats were spilt in Florida.
Catts originally won the Democratic nomination by a margin of 544 votes but then lost it to William Knott by a mere 23 votes after a recount.
The underhanded dealings surrounding the nomination and the recount garnered support for Catts and painted him as a martyr the party establishment had robbed of the nomination.
Catts (bottom left) with members of his family. Photo Credit: Florida Memory.
In wake of this support, he ran for the Prohibitionist party nomination and won, going on to win the election with 43% of the vote and becoming the first Florida governor to win as a third-party candidate.
During his term as Governor, Catts reformed the convict lease system. He also made labor and tax reforms, furthered his prohibitionist agenda, improved transportation systems, and passed legislation relating to the care of the mentally ill.
He supported women’s rights and even appointed a woman to his staff. Despite opposition from the legislature, Catts was able to pass several legislative measures.
As you’ve probably guessed, there are many parallels between the 1916 Florida gubernatorial election and the 2016 presidential election.
Sidney Johnston Catts was a political outsider like Donald Trump whereas Hillary Clinton is seen as more of an establishment candidate, much like William Knott.
Many people also did not take Trump’s campaign very seriously until he won the Republican nomination.
In 1916, the fear of war fueled anti-immigrant sentiments towards Italians, Poles, and Slovaks, and Catts was able to play into the public’s fears, making his crazy ideas seem more palatable.
Today, fears stemming from 9/11 and other recent events has allowed anti-Muslim ideas and policies to gain alarming traction.
Read More: Why The White Working Class Really Supports Trump
For example, Trump has called for a blanket ban of Muslims from entering the country.
In 1916, the conditions were just right for Sidney Johnston Catts to win the seat of governor of Florida.
After leaving office, he ran for governor twice more and once for the U.S. Senate but was unsuccessful each time.
As strange as Catts’ gubernatorial election seems, some aspects of it are paralleled today, and perhaps this oddity of the past should be considered as we look to the future.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Public Domain/ Library Of Congress
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