Mediaboss Marketing

Saving lives is not a partisan issue. It cant be, when our nations gun violence epidemic touches every community.

Gabby Giffords

May 5, 2023Updated: May 5, 2023 9:17p.m.

Upper left: Diana Velazquez Alvarado, a victim of the Cleveland, Texas shooting. Bottom left: Julisa Molina Rivera, a victim of the Cleveland, Texas shooting. Upper right: Jonathan Casarez, a victim of the Cleveland, Texas shooting. Bottom right: Payton Washington, one of two women wounded by a man in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own. Middle: Daniel Enrique Lazo Guzman and Sonia Argentina Guzman Taibot, victims of the Cleveland, Texas shooting.

In Cleveland, Sonia Argentina Gzman Taibot, Diana Velzquez Alvarado, Obdulia Julisa Molina Rivera, Jos Jonathan Csarez and 9-year-old Daniel Enrique Lazo Guzmn were shot to death. InKansas City, Mo., Ralph Yarl is recovering from a gunshot to the head. In upstate New York, Kaylin Gillis is dead. In the Texas Hill Country, Payton Washington was recently released from the ICU. All because a few strangers thought their unjustified fear or annoyance was greater than these peoples right to live.Their lives were taken for the simple act of asking a neighbor to be quiet at night, for knocking on the wrong door, for mistakenly identifying a car. Countless more lives were ripped apart all in the span of a couple of weeks.Im furious on behalf of the victims and their families. Im especially furious with the gun lobby for pushing this dangerous shoot first, ask questions later mentality for decades, both through its culture of illogical fear, gun rights absolutism and deification of violent vigilantes such as Kyle Rittenhouse. The gun industry wants Americans to feel constantly under siege because, well, its good for business.How did we get here? It wasnt by accident it was by design. Over the past 25 years, the gun lobby has systematically crafted this dystopian version of America by stoking fear and passing laws that encourage violence, including stand your ground laws in 30 states. A recent report by Giffords Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund found that these laws create more violence by allowing people to use deadly force in public, even when they could easily de-escalate a situation.

Stand your ground laws dont allow people to shoot someone simply for a perceived insult, for ringing a doorbell or for turning down their driveway. But they do create a culture where people feel emboldened to use deadly force, and racist biases can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.

These recent preventable tragedies are getting attention, as they should, in part because of their proximity to one another. But the dangerous consequences of the gun lobbys promotion of preemptive violence are not new.After George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed Black teen Trayvon Martin in 2012, he was acquitted in a trial where his lawyers claimed self-defense. In 2020, Ahmaud Arbery was killed by armed vigilantes who referenced their states stand your ground lawas justification for hunting down a Black man out jogging. In 2021, Rittenhouse was acquitted after killing two people at a Black Lives Matter protest, for which he claimed self-defense.I often say we dont want our country to become the Wild West, where disagreements that turn into shootouts are the norm. The reality, however, is even worse: Weve become a country where children are shot for no reason at all.Combining NRA fearmongering with permitless carry and stand your ground laws which the American Bar Association called a low-cost license to kill in a country where there are more guns than people is a recipe for disaster. A recent Florida road rage incident led to two men shooting each others daughters, with the first man who fired a shot ruled as having used justified force.

Race and racism often play a role in whether an attack is viewed as justified. A study that looked at FBI homicide data from 2005 to 2010 found a 281 percent higher chance that a homicide will be ruled justified if the killer is white and the victim is Black than if both are white. An analysis in Florida found that a conviction is twice as likely when the victims in a stand your ground case are white.It shouldnt need to be said, but killing people for a neighborly request or for knocking on your door is not what freedom looks like. Worshiping Zimmerman and Rittenhouse as right-wing heroes is not tough or patriotic. And allowing people to shoot first and ask questions later is not a world Americans want to live in.Saving lives is not a partisan issue. It cant be, when our nations gun violence epidemic touches every community. It doesnt matter if someone is a Republican or a Democrat parents want to send their kids to school or outside to play without worrying about a gun ripping their child away from them.

My heart broke watching family members of children massacred last year in Uvalde beg lawmakers to pass House Bill 2744, an important new bill to stop teenagers from purchasing the gun that killed their beautiful children. Their voices were not those of either political party, but the voices of parents and siblings fighting to save even more families from feeling their pain and grief.The America I know and love is full of kind, caring, generous people who love their families and enjoy spending time with friends. They give to charity, worship and are always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. I cannot stand by and watch as cynical gun industry marketers portray my country as a place where unknown danger lurks around each corner. The vast majority of Americans gun owners and non-gun owners alike agree. We must not allow the gun industry to hijack our culture and corrupt the American way of life.

Gabby Giffords, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was shot in the head in 2011 during an attempted assassination. Shes the founder of Giffords, an organization that fights to reduce gun violence.

Read more:
Giffords: Cleveland, other shootings show the gun industry's ... - Houston Chronicle

The hosts of NBC's Today Show have become familiar members of mornings in many American households, and they're popular names in the television sphere in general.

The stars of the show have all encountered varying journeys to the top of their game at NBC, and we're looking back at their careers and how much value they've acquired over the years.

The Today Show hosts have become legitimate celebrities in the American lexicon

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie are the main anchors of the show, with Hoda first having joined NBC in 1998 as a correspondent for Dateline NBC.

After working her way up the ranks, she became co-anchor in 2018, and has since accrued awards for not just her journalism but also her work as a writer, having released seven books.

All those amount to a net worth of $30 million for the 58-year-old according to CelebrityNetWorth.com, which puts her nearly on par with Savannah.

Savannah Guthrie has been with NBC since 2007

Having been with NBC since 2007, the anchor, 51, became the main co-anchor of Today in 2012, and has juggled several other positions within the network, from Chief White House Correspondent to co-host of Third Hour.

All this combine to a solid $40 million net worth for the mom-of-two, also including her range of TV roles and work as a children's book author.

Hoda Kotb has been with NBC since 1998

Also boasting a $40 million net worth is Carson Daly, one of the newest members of the Today team, but a part of the NBC roster since 2002.

He hosted and produced his own late night talk show from 2002-2019, following on from his years as a radio host and VJ for MTV's Total Request Live.

Add to it his long-running stint as the host of The Voice, his very own New Year's Eve show, and even an independent record label, 456 Enterprise & Entertainment.

One of the co-hosts for Third Hour, Dylan Dreyer has a career that expands beyond the range of NBC, including children's books and radio shows.

However, her work as a meteorologist has definitely come in handy, as she's hosted two exploration-based shows for the network (currently Earth Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer) and appeared on The Weather Channel, amounting to a net worth so far of $4 million.

Dylan Dreyer has been with NBC since 2012

Also part of Third Hour is Craig Melvin, who often steps in for Savannah or Hoda as a main anchor, and his history in journalism has been illustrious.

The 43-year-old has reported some truly incredible stories in his time, such as the Sandy Hook shootings, the George Zimmerman trial, and several Olympic seasons, and they come together to give him a hefty $9 million net worth.

However, topping all of them is one of the most beloved members of the team and most definitely the veteran of the group, Al Roker, and you can check out a glimpse of his time with the show in the video below.

The 68-year-old's journalism career began in the '70s with local stations, eventually joining NBC through the Cleveland based WKYC in 1978.

His tenure on Today began in the early '90s, becoming a full-time forecaster for the team in 1996. Beyond that, he has authored several books, hosted shows on the Food Network, and even starred in the Broadway hit Waitress for six weeks.

Al Roker has been with NBC since 1978

When you mix it all together, Al's illustrious career gives him a net worth of $70 million so far, and given his tenure on the show, it can only go up from here.

Read more HELLO! US stories here

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

View post:
Today's Savannah Guthrie's multi-million net worth compared to Hoda Kotb, Dylan Dreyer, Al Roker, and more who's on top? - HELLO!

I found out that Harry Belafonte had gone to be with the ancestors early Tuesday morning. He lived for nearly a century, a champion and catalyst in both activism and entertainment.

I met him once not far from my alma mater, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.

My best friend and I had rented a vehicle to go down to Tallahassee to see a student activist group called the Dream Defenders, who had begun what would ultimately be a monthlong sit-in at the Florida Capitol to demand the legislature hold a special session to address the states stand your ground law. It was July 2013. I had just turned 30 years old. And George Zimmerman had just been acquitted of murder charges for shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

When I was an FAMU Rattler, Id made the trip from Augusta, Georgia, to Tallahassee many times, seeing signs for small towns that took me back to adolescent afternoons with my grandmother, who routinely watched In the Heat of the Night. Before the show became a TV fixture, star Sidney Poitier a longtime friend of Belafontes made the role of Virgil Tibbs into an iconic persona.

While the irony of Black celebrity cops in a world full of police brutality eluded me at that time, the string of heated summers did not. The furor caused by Martins death intensified in August 2014 after 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Florissant, Missouri. These events were the genesis of Black Lives Matter, which eventually led to the worldwide protests following the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020.

As we entered the Capitol, my friend and I were given black T-shirts with an aspirational message: CAN WE DREAM TOGETHER? I had spent the last three years as an editor at a Black-owned newspaper, so I was familiar with the challenges that faced Black people in my hometown and beyond. Still, this was different. I needed to see a youth movement like this focused and unafraid. I needed to see my peers and younger college students loudly demand justice. One of their chants still resonates with me nearly a decade later:

I

I believe

I believe that

I believe that we will win

I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN

I entered the building as a journalist and left as something more. That day, I understood how journalism might become advocacy, much like it did for abolitionist Frederick Douglass, anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells, and others. I interviewed Dream Defenders co-founder Phillip Agnew, himself a FAMU alum, and followed him around for a bit. Eventually we came to an out-of-the-way room that might have represented a change of pace in any other building. But in this hub of ambient energy, as the spiritual goes, aint no hiding place down here.

There he was: Harry Belafonte. Sitting near a windowsill, with the sun shining on his back. I shyly gestured toward him and made my way back into the role of a journalist. It would be an understatement to say that his presence galvanized the Defenders efforts and later said the effect was reciprocal.

It makes my autumn heart dance like it was spring, Belafonte said when asked about the protest at the Capitol.

Shakespeare talked about the winter of our discontent, but for Black folks, that angst is year-round. My singular regret about going to cover the Dream Defenders protest was that I didnt stay longer. I dont even remember why my journey to Tallahassee was a day trip, but I experienced more in those few hours than I had during any recitation of Black history or activism. That was a moment for me.

The moment is something I think people fail to embrace at times, myself included. We wallow in the realm of missed opportunities instead of appreciating the peaks and valleys of life as the greater blessing. In poor environment, I find great inspiration, Belafonte once said. Many of the men and women whom I admire as artists, the things they write, the songs they sing, the admission is filled with inspired moments to overcome oppression. This perspective on life allowed him to always be in the moment, continually ready to be a voice for the next generation.

I am grateful that the Dream Defenders moment wasnt limited to a month at the Capitol. Even now, Agnew continues to persevere and organize through Black Men Build.

Even now, as Florida represents ground zero for clashes between Black activists and an overreaching government, I am grateful for the elders like Belafonte who so graciously passed the baton to the next generation. I remain hopeful that we can continue to run this race for freedom together.

And I still believe that we will win.

Go here to see the original:
I met Harry Belafonte a decade ago at a protest. Im still moved by that moment. - Andscape

A wrong address, a mistaken car, and stray basketball five times over six days, seemingly mundane interactions turned violent or deadly after one party pulled out a firearm.

Though the facts in each instance vary, experts tell ABC News that the cases broadly reflect the sheer numbers of firearms in the United States and elements of gun culture that have bled into vital legal frameworks governing self-defense.

"There's absolutely a risk that the combination of loosening gun carry laws, relaxing self-defense laws, and politicizing self-defense through pardons and the like could lead to more incidents like the ones that we've seen," law professor Eric Ruben told ABC News.

The incidents began in Kansas City, MO, when 84-year-old Andrew Lester shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after he mistakenly approached Lester's home and rang his doorbell after looking for the wrong address. Two days later, Kevin Monahan, 65, shot and killed Kaylin Gillis, 20, when she and her friends pulled into his driveway mistakenly in upstate New York.

The same day, Antonio Caccavale, 43, shot at the car of Waldes Thomas Jr., 19, and Diamond Darville, 18, who drove into the wrong driveway while delivering groceries with Instacart in Florida.

On April 18, Robert Louis Singletary, 24, shot at a family, including a 6-year-old girl, after a stray basketball rolled into his yard in North Carolina. In Texas, that same day, Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr, 25, allegedly shot two high school cheerleaders after they mistakenly entered the wrong car.

Experts warn that the incidents reflect the sheer number of firearms in the U.S., with estimates suggesting there are more than 400 million firearms in circulation throughout the nation.

"The prevalence of guns is fueling what we're seeing. We are seeing the idea that we are a shoot-first culture," Johns Hopkins professor Joshua Horwitz told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. "Everybody seems to be afraid, they've been told to be afraid."

While each of these cases includes a different set of facts, similar cases often rely on a set of laws governing self-defense, according to ABC News legal contributor Kimberly Wehle.

The "castle doctrine" is a common law principle, codified by many state legislatures, that allows individuals to use reasonable force to protect themselves in their homes against intruders.

Florida expanded the idea of the castle doctrine in 2005, passing a law that permits residents to "stand your ground" if they believe they are preventing death or bodily harm, or a felony, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ten states have since adopted laws with similar language about standing one's ground.

However, some legal scholars believe this push for broader self-defense gun rights is a product of the U.S. gun culture rather than firmly rooted in the Second Amendment or legal traditions.

"The loosening of self-defense, this is actually a lot of the rhetoric, and a lot of the legal changes are actually contrary to the American legal tradition," Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law professor Eric Ruben said.

Ruben said that multiple signals including trial outcomes, public comments from politicians, and decisions to pardon notable defendants have contributed to a meaningful social norm about using guns in defense.

"If we were trying to reduce violence, the norms are as important or more important than the letter of the law," he said.

Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two men in Kenosha, WI, and George Zimmerman, who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, were found not guilty after jury trials, bringing public attention to using a firearm in self defense, according to Ruben. Public statements by politicians who promise to pardon individuals who use guns in self defense further strengthen the social norms of standing one's ground.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently made such a public promise, tweeting that he was "working as swiftly as Texas law allows" to pardon Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant found guilty of murdering a protester in 2020, according to Ruben. Ruben noted that such comments further strengthen the public's perception of acceptable self-defense gun use, which often is not aligned with the laws governing actual firearm usage.

Harvard professor David Hemenway explained to ABC News that Americans' perceptions of self-defense gun use are often unrealistic. Research from 2019 found that a high percentage of guns used in self-defense are utilized in manners that are not socially beneficial, such shootings related to drugs, gangs, and escalating arguments, rather than home invasions.

When he examined data from National Crime Victimization Surveys, Hemenway found little evidence that self-defense gun use reduces the chance of injury or property loss. Studying self-defense gun use for over 20 years, Hemenway summarized his research to the idea that carrying a gun, even in self defense, makes people less safe.

"The evidence seems to indicate that this should not be a surprise what happened, and it's sad," he told ABC News about the recent incidents.

Nevertheless, America's self-defense gun laws have bent in favor of more guns in the hands of more citizens.

I think there is a narrative in this country being pushed by the gun industry and certain legislators that a person needs to be armed in public at all times to be safe, Allison Anderman, Giffords Law Center director of local policy, told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week."

With last week's string of incidents exemplifying seemingly mundane interactions gone wrong, experts worry the incidents will likely send a chilling public message about the danger of common mistakes.

"It is going to create a chilling effect to deliver an Amazon package, to trick or treat, to have a postal worker or a delivery service just make a common sense mistake," Wehle said.

Go here to see the original:
How two decades of gun culture helped shape America's 'Stand Your Ground' laws - ABC News

Texas's Republican governor has said he is seeking a pardon for an Uber driver convicted of murder for shooting a protester during a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020.

Governor Greg Abbott said Saturday that he had asked the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend a pardon for Daniel Perry, who was convicted after an eight-day jury trial of killing protester Garrett Foster.

"I look forward to approving the Board's pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk," Abbott said in a statement on Twitter. Under Texas law, he said, he needs such a recommendation before acting.

Perry, a US army sergeant and part-time ride-hailing service driver, has said he was driving through capital city Austin when he turned into a street full of demonstrators protesting in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Police said Perry honked at the protesters and drove into the crowd trying to get through.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

Foster, a 28-year-old white man, was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle.

The jury heard conflicting testimony as to whether Foster pointed the AK-47, but Perry, who is also white, said he feared for his life and opened fire with a handgun he was legally carrying.

Perry's lawyers said the state's "Stand Your Ground" law justified his action.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

Abbott agreed.

"Texas has one of the strongest 'Stand Your Ground' laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive District Attorney," he said in his statement.

The Texas Republican Party had urged Abbott to issue a pardon, something he did twice last year and eight times in 2021, all for lower-level offenses, the Texas Tribune reported.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

While Texas Republicans praised Abbott's decision, a Democratic state legislator, Sarah Eckhardt, called it "a stunning and dangerous abrogation of the rule of law that will embolden more armed confrontations and inevitable tragedies."

"Stand Your Ground" laws have been highly controversial, particularly since a Florida jury in 2013 acquitted George Zimmerman of murdering an unarmed Black teen, Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman had pursued based on unfounded suspicions.

bbk/sw

Visit link:
Texas Governor Seeks To Pardon Convicted Killer Of Anti-police Brutality Protester - Barron's