Justice Department to boost resources to fight hate crimes, attorney general says
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Thursday it was boosting resources, improving training and streamlining reporting procedures to help combat a troubling rise in hate crimes.
To better respond to hate crimes, Garland wrote, top Justice Department officials will appoint a national coordinator to “focus,streamline and maximize the effectiveness of the Department’s relevant resources.” He also urged each U.S. attorney’s office to designate a civil and criminal coordinator to address hate crimes in local jurisdictions and to improve communication with local and state authorities.
The department, Garland wrote, will create a new position to improve the department’s language resources because non-English speakers face barriers in “reporting of hate crimes and incidents.” The agency will also “prioritize reinvigorating” and filling longstanding vacancies in the Community Relations Service, a unit that focuses on resolving local conflicts and preventing and responding to hate crimes, the attorney general wrote.
Garland’s memo followed what he described in March as an “urgent” need to review how the federal government can best combat a spike in hate crimes and incidents, particularly those targeting members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
—Los Angeles Times
‘Clearly hyperbolic’: Rudy Giuliani denies he urged attack on Capitol in ‘trial by combat’ speech
Rudy Giuliani says he didn’t really mean for anyone to take him seriously when he urged a mob of #MAGA followers to engage in “trial by combat” on Jan. 6 before they stormed the Capitol.
Former President Donald Trump’s then personal lawyer Thursday asserted his fiery speech was “clearly hyperbolic” and claims that “no reasonable listener” would take it literally, even though that’s exactly what the violent crowd of thousands did.
“No reasonable (person) would perceive Giuliani’s speech as an instruction to march to the Capitol, violently breach the perimeter and enter the Capitol building and then violently terrorize Congress into not engaging in the Election Certification, Giuliani’s lawyers said in a new legal filing in federal court.
Giuliani’s lawyers latched onto his use of the word “trial” to suggest that he was actually calling for Trump supporters to engage in some sort of quasi-legal process for overturning the election instead of storming the Capitol to hunt down perceived opponents.
“The statement was clearly hyperbolic and not literal,” the filing said. “And even if it were to be perceived literally, Giuliani was clearly referring to an event in the future after evidence of election fraud is collected.”
Trump and Giuliani launched a sprawling campaign of disinformation about supposed fraud that they claim tainted Biden’s win.Even though dozens of judges rejected their claims, both men continue to baselessly claim the election was stolen from Trump,charges that led to the Capitol riot.
—New York Daily News
Bill Cosby denied parole after failing to participate in ‘sex offender’ therapy program
Bill Cosby was denied parole in his sex assault case this month in part because of his failure to complete a prison program for sex offenders, the Pennsylvania Parole Board said.
The comedian isn’t eligible for release until Sept. 25 at the earliest, but the board starts interviewing candidates three to five months in advance and spoke to Cosby by video conference on May 7, board spokeswoman Laura Treaster told the New York Daily News on Thursday.
Based on the interview, the board denied his parole, Treaster said.
In a letter detailing its decision, the board cited Cosby’s failure to complete the therapy, failure to develop a parole release plan and a “negative recommendation” from corrections officials.
The next time Cosby goes before the board, officials will look to see whether he has “successfully participated in/successfully completed a treatment program for sex offenders and violence prevention,” the letter shared by Treaster said.
Cosby’s longtime spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, said the decision “was not a surprise” after Cosby refused to participate in what he called a “sexually violent predator” course.
“Mr. Cosby has vehemently proclaimed his innocence and continues to deny all allegations made against him,” Wyatt said Thursday. “Today, Mr. Cosby continues to remain hopeful that the Pennslyvania State Supreme Court will issue an opinion to vacate his conviction or warrant him a new trial.”
Cosby, 83, was convicted in 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his suburban Pennsylvania mansion in 2004.
He was later sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison.
—New York Daily News
Syria’s Assad reelected for fourth term in expected landslide win
Syrian President Bashar Assad has been re-elected for a fourth seven-year term, scoring an expected landslide in a presidential election dismissed by the opposition as a sham.
Al-Assad won 95.1% of the valid votes cast in Wednesday’s election, head of the Syrian parliament Hamoud Sabagh said.
Roughly 78.6% of eligible voters cast ballots, Sabagh added at a news conference in Damascus. Votes were cast inside and outside Syria, he said.
Syrian state television showed live celebrations of Assad’s win in several parts of the country, including Damascus. Loyalists waved the Syrian flag and pictures of Assad. Celebratory fireworks were also set off.
Three contenders, including Assad, ran in Wednesday’s polls, Syria’s second presidential election since the country’s civil war started in 2011.
Wednesday’s election was held in government-controlled areas.
The election has been condemned as fraudulent by Syria's opposition as well as the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
—dpa
