Members of Congress sound alarm over ‘spike in violent antisemitism’
A broad coalition of U.S. House members sounded the alarm Friday about “a dramatic spike in violent antisemitism across this country” and urged President Joe Biden to act.
“Regardless of what state or which side of the political spectrum antisemitism comes from, we must respond forcefully and immediately. We cannot wait for another attack to turn deadly before we respond,” they wrote. “We find our nation in a tense moment. …. We come together to urge a strong response to the rising antisemitism spreading in our country.”
The president, in a statement later Friday, said the “attacks are despicable, unconscionable, un-American, and they must stop. I will not allow our fellow Americans to be intimidated or attacked because of who they are or the faith they practice.”
The congressional letter was crafted by U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a South Florida Democrat who represents a district with many Jewish residents, and three other members of the House — two Republicans and a Democrat.
Almost one-third of House members, Democrats and Republicans, had signed by Friday afternoon. Signatories include House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal.
—South Florida Sun Sentinel
Jury finds farm hand guilty of first-degree murder of Iowa student
An Iowa jury found Christhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder Friday in the brutal stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts.
Tibbetts was a 20-year-old University of Iowa student and former cross-country runner when she disappeared while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18, 2018.
Bahena Rivera, who had pleaded not guilty, led investigators to her body in a shallow grave in a cornfield after his Chevrolet Malibu was captured on surveillance video circling the area where she was last seen alive.
A DNA test of blood detected in the vehicle’s trunk came back an exact match for Tibbetts, the 12-member jury heard during his trial.
The farmhand from Mexico who was in the U.S. without authorization testified in his own defense, claiming two masked men armed with a gun and a knife appeared in his trailer the night Tibbetts went missing and ordered him to drive to the location where she was jogging.
He claimed one of the men disappeared for a moment and then dumped Tibbetts’ body in his trunk.
Bahena Rivera said the men threatened to harm his daughter if he went to police, so he buried Tibbetts and fled.
The jury, which included nine white members and three of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish descent, debated his fate for seven hours before unanimously convicting him Friday.
—New York Daily News
Passenger banned from Southwest Airlines after altercation
A woman accused of assaulting a Southwest Airlines lines attendant on a flight from Sacramento to San Diego has been permanently banned from the airline, officials said.
"The passenger repeatedly ignored standard inflight instructions and became verbally and physically abusive upon landing," Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz said in an email to The Times on Friday.
A video of the altercation obtained by the Sacramento Bee shows the woman punching the flight attendant, who then appears dazed and bloodied while other passengers try to keep the woman seated.
A union leader for airline employees said the flight attendant lost two teeth in the attack.
The incident happened Sunday morning on Flight 700, according to the Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department, which received a call about the disturbance on the aircraft around 8:55 a.m.
Harbor police officers met the aircraft at the gate, they said. Witnesses told police that the passenger, later identified as Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, struck the flight attendant, "causing serious injuries" during an altercation.
Paramedics from the San Diego Fire Department transported the flight attendant, who was not identified, to Scripps Memorial Hospital.
Quinonez was arrested on suspicion of battery causing serious bodily injury and was booked in the Las Colinas Detention Facility, police said.
—Los Angeles Times
Texas bill to limit 'critical race theory' is derailed by procedure
DALLAS — One of the Legislature’s most controversial education bills — which advocates said would have made it more difficult to address racism in schools — was derailed by a procedural maneuver just days before lawmakers are slated to leave Austin.
Advocates, however, worry that conservative lawmakers may try a last-ditch effort to tack the legislation on to another bill or revive it in another way before the end of session on Monday.
Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, called a point of order on a bill that educators say would have a chilling effect on conversations about race in the classroom. Supporters characterize the bill as a way to keep “critical race theory” from being taught in schools.
Minutes before the point of order, the bill’s author, Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, told his colleagues that he planned to accept a number of changes from the Senate, despite the fact that the alterations dramatically changed the bill from when it passed out of the House.
In Texas’ upper chamber, lawmakers stripped a number of provisions including some that would have required students to learn the history of Native Americans and study the writings of Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Senators also removed a provision that would have mandated students learn about the history of white supremacy and the ways in which it is morally wrong.
“Is it fair to say that any bill that strikes language condemning racism is a racist bill?” Talarico asked Toth.
Toth didn’t respond to his question but acknowledged that he still agreed with the provision that was removed. When Talarico asked why Toth didn’t want to bring the bill to a conference committee where members of the House and Senate could negotiate their differences, Toth noted that there was little time left in session.
—The Dallas Morning News
