(NEWARK) — A New Jersey woman was arrested after officials found an assault rifle that the Transportation Security Administration described as “artfully concealed” inside her suitcase at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday.
TSA officers found the concealed weapon “behind the lining of a suitcase” during screening operations of checked baggage at the airport.
The assault rifle was found with a high-capacity magazine and four boxes of hollow-point bullets, TSA said. Officers also found three magazines — one of which was fully loaded — and two additional boxes of ammunition.
“Our TSA officers are very skilled at detecting firearms and other prohibited items,” Tom Carter, TSA’s Federal Security Director for New Jersey said in a press release. “This was an incredibly good catch on the part of our officers because the traveler attempted to evade detection by concealing the items beneath the lining of his suitcase.”
TSA said the Port Authority police were notified about the weapon and subsequently tracked down the woman, who was arrested along with her traveling companion.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Nearly two months after George Floyd died at the hand of Minneapolis police officers, Minnesota state leaders approved a comprehensive police reform bill that included a ban on chokeholds and what it deemed “warrior-style training.”
The state Legislature passed the bill during the early morning hours Tuesday. Gov. Tim Walz said he will sign the legislation, calling the reforms “overdue,” in a statement. Among the 14 reform measures in the bill are a ban on police use of chokeholds, a ban on “warrior training,” increased de-escalation training and a new unit that will investigate police use of force incidents.
“After decades of advocacy by communities of color and Indigenous communities, the bipartisan passage of these measures is a critical step toward justice. This is only the beginning,” Walz said in a statement.
Floyd was killed on Memorial Day when four officers arrested him following a 911 phone call from a convenience store over a counterfeit bill. The arrest was filmed by bystanders and security cameras and showed white Officer Derek Chauvin putting Floyd on the ground and placing his knee into the suspect’s neck as he gasped, “I can’t breathe.”
Chauvin was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, while the three other officers, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane, were charged with second-degree aiding and abetting felony murder and second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Floyd’s death sparked massive protests around the country calling for police reform and an end to use of force during arrests. The Minnesota legislative package addresses some of those concerns.
Under the legislation officers in the state cannot perform a chokehold, tie “all of a person’s limbs together behind the person’s back to render the person immobile” or secure “a person in any way that results in transporting the person face down in a vehicle.”
The legislation also bars police forces from offering “warrior-style training” to its members, which is defined as “training for peace officers that is intended to increase a peace officer’s likelihood or willingness to use deadly force in encounters with community members.” Any member who conducts the training on their own will not receive education credits or tuition reimbursement from their departments, according to the legislation.
Minneapolis’s police department had previously banned “warrior-style training” last year but the Minneapolis police union offered to pay for the training for any member who wanted to partake in it on their own time.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement the state bill did not go far enough, especially since his city enacted similar reforms. He also called out the lack of reform when it came to police arbitration.
“At the local level, change-oriented leaders like [Minneapolis PD] Chief [Medaria] Arradondo will continue to see their ability to effect a culture shift limited without changes to arbitrators’ authority to overturn disciplinary decision for egregious misconduct,” Frey said in a statement.
Representatives from the Police Officers’ Federation of Minneapolis, the union representing the city’s officers, didn’t immediately return messages for comment.
Another reform in the package includes retraining officers on the way they handle persons suffering from mental health issues and persons with autism. It also requires the state to come up with a pilot program where officers work with county mobile crisis mental health services.
Walt Disney Television/Lou Rocco(LOS ANGELES) — Actress Anna Camp is hoping fans learn from her mistake: she claims she contracted COVID-19 after skipping her mask “one time.”
“I was incredibly safe. I wore a mask. I used hand sanitizer,” the Pitch Perfect series star writes on Instagram. “One time, when the world was starting to open up, I decided to forgo wearing my mask. One. Time. And I ended up getting it.”
Camp noted, “I was extremely sick for over three weeks…People are saying it’s like having the flu, but I’ve had the flu, and this is absolutely not that.”
She says she’s since tested negative for the virus but claims she still has lingering symptoms.
Camp adds, “The panic of contracting a virus that is basically untreatable and is so new that no one knows the long term irreparable damage it does to your immune system is unbelievably stressful. Completely losing my sense of smell and taste without knowing when or even if they will return is extremely disorienting. I’m only smelling about 30 percent of how I used to now.”
She also says she’s still suffering from dizziness, fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms.
“I’m lucky. Because I didn’t die,” she writes. “But people are. Please wear ur mask. It can happen any time. And it can happen to anyone…Wearing a mask is saving lives.”
Camp closes with thanking those who reached out to her while she was ill, and one other request: “Let’s all do our part and wear a mask. I don’t want any of you to go through what I did. Even though it’s a little thing, it can have a huge impact, and it’s so incredibly easy to do.”
ABC/Image Group LAKacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly continue to show benevolence toward one another following the announcement of their separation.
The singer shared her first official post on the platform in two months, and first since announcing that she and Ruston were divorcing, with a photo of the work of visual artist Sara Shakeel that shows her crying glitter tears and donning a pair of sparkling butterfly wings, in addition to bedazzling her outfit.
“If only tears were actually glittery..” Kacey contemplates in the caption, with Ruston himself replying with a muscle arm and heart emoji in the comment section.
Kacey has a song titled “Glittery,” an original duet with pop singer Troye Sivan that’s featured in her 2019 holiday special, The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show. Troye also commented on the photo with a simple heart symbol, with Lindsay Ell adding, “You are perfect.”
Sara also chimed in, writing, “You kindness & warmth is BEYOND!” The artist shared in an Instagram post earlier this month that she was commissioned to create artwork for The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show, with the Grammy-winner herself commenting then, “you’re my favorite of all time.”
Kacey and Ruston announced their divorce on July 3 following a more than two-year marriage. The couple met at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville in 2016 and married in October 2017.
“Though we are parting ways in marriage, we will remain true friends for the rest of our lives. We hold no blame, anger, or contempt for each other and we ask for privacy and positive wishes for us both as we learn how to navigate through this,” the couple said in a joint statement.
Sideshow Collectibles(LOS ANGELES) — The little face that launched a thousand memes, “Baby Yoda” can already be yours, thanks to plenty of Mandalorian merchandise, but Sideshow Collectibles just unveiled for pre-sale a stunning replica that looks as if “The Child” waddled right off the screen.
Standing 16.5” tall — which is the mysterious life form’s official life-size, for the record — Sideshow’s The Child Life-Size Figure is wrapped in a tan fabric swaddling coat, has the character’s adorably fuzzy hair, and comes with the silver shift knob from the Mandalorian’s ship, the Razor Crest, which, fans can tell you, the baby likes to toy with on the show.
The mixed media replica costs $375. Info on pre-orders and payment options are are on the company’s website.
TSABY: AMANDA MAILE and SAM SWEENEY
