October 22, 2020

Judge drops third-degree murder charge against former officer Derek Chauvin in George Floyd's death

Source: CNN

A Hennepin County judge has dropped a third-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd.

Chauvin still faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death on May 25, which sparked nationwide protests and a reckoning over race and policing this summer.

Chauvin, who was released on $1 million bond earlier this month, was seen in videos of the incident kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost eight minutes, while the Black man told Chauvin and three other officers that he couldn't breathe.

The other now-former Minneapolis officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The judge upheld those charges.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/22/us/derek-chauvin-george-floyd-charge-dropped/index.html

October 1, 2020

American cyclist suspended by team after pro-Trump comments

Source: Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) -- American cyclist Quinn Simmons was suspended by the Trek-Segafredo team on Thursday after posting antagonistic comments on social media in support of President Donald Trump.

"Regrettably, team rider Quinn Simmons made statements online that we feel are divisive, incendiary, and detrimental to the team, professional cycling, its fans, and the positive future we hope to help create for the sport," Trek-Segafredo said in a statement. &quot He) will not be racing for Trek-Segafredo until further notice."

...

The 19-year-old rider reacted Wednesday when Dutch journalist Jos Been posted on Twitter that she hoped for her American friends that "this horrible presidency ends for you," adding "if you follow me and support Trump, you can go."

Simmons replied by writing "Bye" with an emoji of a dark-skinned hand waving.

When a separate account replied "Apparently a Trumper," Simmons countered "That's right" with a United States flag symbol.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-netherlands-cycling-media-social-media-05b5d642bf0ddab40b0c5b95115b2b4c

---

I'm of mixed opinion about this. All he posted was that he supports Trump, and they suspended him. No insults, no derision, just a confirmation that he supports Trump. And this is in a sport, cycling, that has multiple teams sponsored by criminal regimes as PR campaigns (Astana - Kazakstan, Bahrain McLaren, Israeli Start Up Nation, and Team UAE Emirates).