August 31, 2020 • No Comments • National News

Official White House Photo by Shealah CraigheadBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(MADISON, Wis.) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers “respectfully” asked that President Donald Trump reconsider visiting Kenosha this week amid civil unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, saying he was concerned his presence would “only hinder our healing.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Trump planned to travel to the city on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey damage from destructive protests, according to pool reports.

In response, the Democratic governor penned a letter Sunday urging the president to call off the trip.

“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state,” Evers wrote. “I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”

Protests have occurred nightly in Kenosha, some 40 miles south of Milwaukee, over the police shooting of Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. The Aug. 23 incident, which was captured on cellphone video, has left Blake paralyzed.

On Tuesday, protests turned deadly, when an alleged 17-year-old gunman shot three protesters, killing two of them.

Hundreds of members of the National Guard have been deployed to Kenosha amid the civil unrest, and a state-of-emergency curfew has been extended through Tuesday.

In his letter, Evers expressed concern that a visit from the president would redirect resources from the city’s recovery “at a time when it is critical that we continue to remain focused on keeping the people of Kenosha safe and supporting the community’s response.”

The letter comes as Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called for Trump to “support us, or stay the hell out of the way,” following a deadly shooting during protests in the Oregon city.

Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake, told ABC News he thinks Trump is partially responsible for what happened to his nephew and for the violence across the country.

“How could they not be feeding on violence when the man in the White House is steadily drumming it up?” he said.

When asked about Trump’s planned visit to Kenosha on Tuesday, Justin Blake said that his family has not heard from the president, but they don’t want “anything to do with him.”

“We believe he incited this violence,” he said.

In his acceptance speech during the Republican National Convention last week, Trump painted the election as an existential choice between lawlessness and law and order, and listed Kenosha as one of the “Democrat-run cities” suffering from “rioting, looting, arson and violence.”

His challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, charged Sunday that the president is “recklessly encouraging violence” and “fanning the flames of hate and division in our society.”

In his letter, Evers noted that on Monday, the Wisconsin legislature will take up a policing accountability and transparency reform package.

“I would welcome your support of these initiatives,” he wrote to Trump.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 31, 2020 • No Comments • National News

St. Louis Police DepartmentBy MARC NATHANSON, ABC News

(ST. LOUIS. Mo.) — A St. Louis police officer who was shot while responding to a call Saturday has died, marking the latest round of summer violence in the Gateway City.

Officer Tamarris Bohannon suffered a head wound when he was shot while responding to a late-afternoon call involving a gunman, St. Louis Police Commissioner John Hayden told reporters Saturday.

After Bohannon was shot, one of the officers who was working to assist him was shot in the leg by the same suspect, Hayden said.

The suspect then ordered a couple out of their home and barricaded himself in the house before police were eventually able to take him into custody, officials said.

Bohannon, who was taken to an area hospital in critical condition, died Sunday.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we report that our critically injured officer has died,” the St. Louis Police Department said in a statement on social media. “We cannot express how much we appreciate the hospital staff who continuously treated both officers for their injuries.”

The other officer was released from the hospital earlier in the day.

Bohannon was the eighth St. Louis officer shot since June, Hayden said. He had been a member of the department for more than three-and-a-half years, according to officials.

His death comes three days after the widow of a former St. Louis police captain who was killed during a June protest in the city spoke out against recent violence in taped remarks at the Republican National Convention.

In a post on social media Saturday after the shooting, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said, “Teresa & I are praying for the officers and their families. This violence must end!”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 31, 2020 • No Comments • National News

luchezar/iStockBy BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News

(BALTIMORE) — The deputy director of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s Community Initiative, which includes the Commission on African American History and Culture, has been fired for allegedly posting “divisive” memes that appeared to support the white 17-year-old suspect charged as an adult in the fatal shootings of two men at a protest for Jacob Blake, officials said.

Blake is a Black man who was shot in the back and paralyzed by a Wisconsin police officer.

Arthur “Mac” Love IV, was terminated from the position he’s held since 2015 after he allegedly posted the memes on a Facebook group called Inside Maryland Politics in response to the shooting of the two protesters, sparking condemnation from local leaders, officials said.

“These divisive images and statements are inconsistent with the mission and core values of the Office of Community Initiatives. Earlier today, I relieved this employee of his duties,” Steve McAdams, executive director the governor’s Community Initiative, said in a statement released following Love’s firing on Saturday.

Shareese Churchill, a spokeswoman for Hogan, called Love’s online posts “obviously totally inappropriate.”

“We fully support the immediate actions taken by Director McAdams to address this matter,” Churchill said in a statement.

The swift action taken against Love came after he allegedly reposted a photo of Kyle Rittenhouse — the teen charged for allegedly shooting three people, two of them fatally, at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin — cleaning graffiti from a vandalized wall. The original post caption read: “I’m grateful that conservatives are rallying behind this kid. He genuinely seems like a good person.”

Love also allegedly posted multiple memes about the shooting, and one of them was a screenshot of a smiling police officer giving two thumbs up at the scene of the crime. “Dont [sic] Be A Thug If You Cant Take A Slug!” the caption read.

Another meme allegedly posted by Love showed two images of Gaige Grosskreutz, the victim who survived being shot in the arm at Tuesday’s Kenosha protest, along with the caption, “When you get 2nd place in Wisconsins [sic] Annual Quick Draw Competition.”

Reached on Sunday by ABC News, Love said he has been in contact with attorneys and plans to make a statement soon. He said his supporters plan to hold a news conference on Monday.

“There are people actually doing a press conference for me tomorrow because all the people I helped throughout the state are really upset,” Love said. “As soon as I can, I’ll talk to somebody. I want to get my side out because this is not right.”

Love referred all questions for the time being to Gary Collins, a friend serving as a spokesman for Love and his family.

Asked if Love was attempting to support Rittenhouse by posting the memes, Collins told ABC News, “What Mr. Love was trying to do is support the concept that there are always two sides to a story, and that unfortunately in today’s culture and heightened political environment, folks are very quick to cast judgment.”

Collins said Love has been getting legal counsel and will be making a decision “as to the best and most appropriate action for himself.”

He confirmed that multiple supporters of Love plan to hold a news conference on Monday.

“The guy spent six years in public service under this administration alone,” Collins said. “He’s essentially dedicated his life to public service, particularly community initiatives, not just here in Maryland but around the country. So there are a number of folks who are pretty disappointed at what we feel is a hastened dismissal.”

Collins said Love did not receive any sort of opportunity to explain himself before he was fired.

“He became aware of his dismissal by probably no less than 50 calls from media outlets before his own boss contacted him,” Collins said.

Rittenhouse of Antioch, Illinois, was charged in the fatal shootings of Anthony M. Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, as well as the shooting of Grosskreutz. He is being held in a juvenile facility in Illinois, pending a Sept. 25 hearing on the status of his extradition.

The violence occurred late Tuesday night near a gas station in Kenosha, some 40 miles south of Milwaukee, amid the third night of protests over the police shooting of Blake. One of the victims in the deadly shooting was shot five times, including in the head, and the other was shot in the chest, according to a criminal complaint. A third gunshot victim was taken to the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Rittenhouse, a former Illinois police cadet, surrendered to authorities in Antioch, Illinois, on Wednesday, local police said.

He was part of a group that went to Kenosha to volunteer to protect businesses after several were looted and burned to the ground during the protests.

“Kyle is an innocent boy who justifiably exercised his fundamental right of self-defense,” one of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, L. Lin Wood, said on Friday. “In doing so, he likely saved his own life and possibly the lives of others.”

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 31, 2020 • No Comments • National News

MarianVejcik/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News

(BOSTON) — Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to protest a new flu vaccine mandate for Massachusetts students, enacted as school districts prepare to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.

At the demonstration in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston, protesters — some of them children — held signs that read “Unavoidably unsafe,” “My child, my choice,” “Parents call the shots” and “I am not a threat.” “No forced shots” was written in chalk in front of the statehouse. Many demonstrators were not wearing masks or social distancing, according to photos and videos taken of the event.

The protest follows an Aug. 19 announcement from state officials that influenza immunization will be required for all children ages 6 months or older who are attending Massachusetts child care, pre-school, kindergarten, and K-12. Full-time undergraduate and graduate students under 30 and all full and part-time health science students attending school in the state must also get the vaccine.

Several protesters said that the flu shot should be a choice — an argument frequently used against mask mandates, including in schools — due to the pandemic.

“The flu vaccine should not be a mandate. It should be a choice,” Jessica Marchant told ABC Boston affiliate WCVB.

Other protesters told the station they believe state officials are “taking advantage” of the fear caused by the virus.

“I think parents are vulnerable right now. They need their kids to go to school and they backed us into a corner,” Taryn Proulx told WCVB-TV. “We feel like we have to just comply or rearrange our whole lives and homeschool our children.”

The mandate comes as experts are bracing for what some have called a “twindemic” of COVID-19 and the flu. Children are more vulnerable to the seasonal flu than COVID-19, medical experts told ABC News. Those under 5 years old are at the highest risk of developing serious flu-related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It is more important now than ever to get a flu vaccine because flu symptoms are very similar to those of COVID-19 and preventing the flu will save lives and preserve health care resources,” Dr. Larry Madoff, medical director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, said in a statement announcing the flu requirement.

Under the mandate, students must now receive the vaccine annually by Dec. 31. Medical or religious exemptions are allowed. Home-schooled or off-campus college students are also exempt. Elementary and secondary students who are remote are not exempt.

A majority of school districts in the state, including Boston, plan to reopen in the coming weeks with hybrid learning, according to an analysis by WCVB.

Massachusetts has some of the highest vaccination rates in the country. During the 2018-2019 flu season, 81% of children ages 6 months to 17 years and 53.5% of adults got the vaccine, according to the CDC.

Massachusetts is the first state to mandate the flu vaccine for all children and joins a handful of states that already require it for child care and/or preschool enrollees, according to research by the Immunization Action Coalition.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.