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Major crime hits five-year low in Richmond, ran a headline in this newspaper just 19 months ago. The story focused on the city, where violent and property crimes fell 10 percent and homicides dropped by 26 percent.

The citizens of Richmond should be proud, very proud, of their Police Department and the numbers that we have, the initiatives, and the positive interactions that we have with the members of the community, said Police Chief Alfred Durham then.

Mayor Dwight Jones agreed: I think its important for us and particularly the media to be able to say that we are bucking a national trend. We believe that the reason for this is we have a progressive police force, we have good leadership in the police force, that we have citizens who are helping our officers.

The feel-good story has turned into a horror movie. Regional killings soar past 100, reach highest level in decade, was the headline on Sundays front-page article by reporter Mark Bowes. The principal reason for that: bloodshed in the city. The region as a whole had 26 more homicides than last year. Richmond accounts for 25 of them. The city now has a homicide rate equal to Chicagos.

A lopsided majority of the victims were black. The same is true of the perpetrators. In a city where roughly every other resident is African-American just under nine out of 10 homicide victims were.

(By contrast, VCU criminologist William Pelfrey notes that Latino violence appears to be low relative to their numbers in the population. Therein lies a lesson for all those currently wetting their beds over a fictitious immigrant crime wave.)

Durham says the police department is overwhelmed from doing too many things that are not a proper part of policing, and he laments the lack of cooperation from neighbors and witnesses when a killing takes place. We trust his sincerity. But what happened? Less than two years ago the city was celebrating the relationship between cops and helpful citizens. What changed?

One possible explanation: The massive attention given to the killing of black males by police officers, which coalesced into the Black Lives Matter movement.

That attention was justified as anyone familiar with the cases of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Walter Scott and too many others to name can testify. The concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement are legitimate, and reactionaries should not use black-on-black crime to suggest otherwise.

At the same time, it might be possible to devote so much effort to one cause that other, equally important causes wither on the vine. Or bleed out in the street.

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Editorial: Do black lives matter in Richmond? - Richmond.com

Another day, another protest. This time the topic of outrage is Black Lives Matter in Appalachia at the side portico of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. The evening was filled with personal accounts of racism, hope for the future and even an a capella performance.

The first speaker was Ada Woodson Adams, the widow of the first African-American graduate of Ohio University, Alvin C. Adams. She advocated for the continuance of the Black Lives Matter movement.

We chose to come back to our home where we were once chased away, Adams said.

Photo by Heather Willard

She continued to talk about the namesakes of her husband including Adams Hall and a scholarship from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and her lifetime of discrimination and activism.

In my lifetime I have been labeled colored, negro, African-American, Black American, person of color and more. I grew up in a racist and segregated world. I marched for civil rights in the 1960s in the south and walked in the white mans shoes all my life, Adams said.

Black Lives Matter is a shout out to look at a group that has been systematically and fundamentally disenfranchised in America. Anyone who says white lives matter, too are speaking from privilege.

Adams finished her speech with a raised fist and the iconic phrase Black Power.

Rev. Deborah Woolsey of the Church of the Good Shepherd spoke about her experience with being inspired by black people and how she quietly fights intolerance and supports anti-discriminatory businesses.

I let my money do the talking, Woosley explained.

Photo by Heather Willard

Sarah Garlington, an assistant professor at Ohio University and founder of the Athens chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) also spoke, and encouraged attendees to join the group to stay involved. Several others also gave speeches.

The evening was finished with a song performed by Megan Cameron, a singer in the local band called Amethystone, which has themes that echo those of the Black Lives Matter movement. History cannot be ignored. It shows us a pattern, she sang.

Excerpt from:
Appalachian residents advocate for Black Lives Matter - The New Political

Ohio University students and Athens residents gathered in front of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium to rally for racial justice in Appalachia, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Caitlyn McDaniel, a 2015 OU alumna and Athens resident, organized the rally after she heard rumors about the Ku Klux Klan making a resurgence in southeast Ohio.

I felt angry, she said. Appalachia is rich in culture and diversity. Negotiating what it means to be Appalachian took many years to unpack, and I feel like its being corrupted. We will not bow down to racism and threats.

Speakers addressed the crowd of approximately 100 people on College Green and shared stories about racism in their lives. One of the speakers was Ada Adams, who was introduced asa descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, a black slave from his home in Virginia.

I choose to label myself as a black woman, but my veins run with multicultural blood, Adams, a Nelsonville resident, said.

Adams recounted her story of leaving Athens after graduating from OU because she and her husband, Alvin C. Adams, could not find a job in the area as black people. Alvin Adams was the first black man to graduate from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 1959. The two decided to move back to southeast Ohio after Adams Hall was named after Alvin.

Anyone who says white lives matter too is coming from a place of privilege, Adams said. They have not walked in my shoes.

Following a collection of speakers, Megan Cameron, a singer from the local band Amethystone, performed a song she wrote in November 2015 that has strong themes relating to the Black Lives Matter movement.

You think you know who I am based on who you see before you, she sang. History cannot be ignored. It shows us a pattern.

Cameron wrote the song as a call to action for white women to speak up for women of color.

Im used to performing, but I struggled because who am I, she said. I dont know what people of different cultures or races have gone through. It was important to sing though because white people need to have a voice and be part of the movement or else theyll just march in place.

Tom Riggs, a graduate program administrator for chemical and biomolecular engineering, came to the rally to support students and faculty of all races and cultures.

This was wonderful, he said. I came to make sure people know there are people here who know black lives matter indeed. This is another opportunity for people to show that were not going to sit idly and let people destroy what America is about.

McDaniel said she is proud to recognize multicultural students and citizens in the area.

There are so many people of color in Appalachia, but how often as a community do we celebrate that? she said.

Michael and Becca Lachman listen to speakers at a Black Lives Matter protest at Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 20, 2017.

@AbbeyMarshall

am877915@ohio.edu

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Activists rally for #BlackLivesMatter on College Green - The Post

Jeff Malet Photography/NewscomOn Saturday, alt-right leader Richard Spencer crashed the 10th annual International Students for Liberty Conference at a hotel in Washington, D.C. After quarreling with conference attendees, he left the premises.

Spencer, a self-declared white nationalist who believes the U.S. is losing its white identity, had no business attending a gathering of libertarian students, and conference organizers had every right to eject him. Indeed, their decision to do so was a valid exercise of libertarian principles in action.

I attended the conference, along with several other Reason staffers. The Reason Foundation is a co-sponsor of ISFLC, and hosted several events during the conference. One of those events, a panel discussion about sex trafficking featuring Reason Associate Editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Director of Criminal Justice Reform Lauren Krisai, unfolded at roughly the same time as Spencer's unsolicited visit. I was in the audience at that event, and did not cross paths with Spencer.

But it's clear from video footage that Spencer set himself up in the bar of the hotelthe Marriott Wardman in Woodley Parkand attempted to host an unscheduled and unwanted conversation about his despicable views. To be absolutely clear: Spencer was not welcome at the hotel and had not been invited to participate in ISFLC.

"We did not invite Mr. Spencer," said SFL CEO Wolf von Laer in a statement. "We reject his hateful message and we wholeheartedly oppose his obsolete ideology."

Eventually, Jeffrey Tuckeran influential libertarian thinkerconfronted Spencer and made clear to the alt-right provocateur that he "did not belong" at ISFLC. Some shouting ensued, and hotel staff intervened. Shortly thereafter, Spencer left.

It's not completely clear whether Spencer departed of his own accord: he seems to think he was forced to leave, while others say he asked security to see him out safely, even though he was in no danger. But it hardly matters: the Marriott Wardman hotel is private property, and should enjoy the absolute right to evict irksome and unwelcome guests from its premises.

Spencer has attempted to wring as much publicity from the incident as possiblehe tweeted about it no fewer than 40 times, by my count. In his mind, libertarians are "lolbertarians" who need to "accept the reality of race" and get serious about "white replacement." To the extent that his only goal in life is to garner more attention for his fringe worldview, I suppose the stunt was a successhere I am writing about it. Congrats to you, guy who thinks "the United States is a European country."

In any case, the incident should make abundantly clear that the alt-right's racism is incompatible with the principles of a free society. Libertarianism is an individualist philosophy that considers all people deserving of equal rights. In contrast, Spencer is a tribalist and collectivist whose personal commitment to identity politics vastly exceeds the left's.

Spencer is entitled to broadcast his vile opinions, and to make equal use of public resources. He should not be attacked on the street, or anywhere else. But no private actor is required to give him a platformotherwise, property rights would cease to matter.

ISFLC, an organization that works tirelessly to support the cause of liberty all over the worldnot just for white American college studentshandled the matter correctly, in my view.

Disclaimer: I am a friend of Students for Liberty, and won the organization's 2016 Alumni of the Year Award.

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Alt-Right Leader Richard Spencer Crashed a Student Libertarian Conference and Was Shunned - Reason (blog)

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Schiff, the top Democrat on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select Committee on Benghazi, plans to question Flynn on his communication with Russia should he be forced to testify before Congress.

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Idlike to ask him whether that conversation he had with the Russian ambassador was a one-off conversation or there were others? Who in the White House instructed him to have those conversations? Whether he debriefed people in the administration after those conversations?, Schiff said during a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week.

He added, Essentially, who was aware that he had reported falsely to the vice president, and then the vice president, in turn, had misled the American people?

Reports alleging that Flynnhad misled Vice President Mike Pence on discussions he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office surfaced in the media. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ruled out any charges against him, barring new information that changes what they know.

Last week, 20 Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee penned a letter tothe committees chairman, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) urging him to call on Flynn to testify before them.

We believe General Flynn must appear before the Committee, under oath as soon as possible, they wrote. General Flynns resignation leaves many questions unanswered about his and President Trumps ties to Russia and wether American national security and intelligence operations have been compromised.

The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Theodore Deutch (D-FL), Karen Bass (D-CA), William Keating (D-MA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Joaqun Castro (D-TX), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Norma Torres (D-CA), Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Bradley Schneider (D-IL) and Tulsi Gabbard(D-HI).

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News Friday,Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.-CA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saidFlynn was treated unfairly and perhaps illegally in the scandal that forced his resignation as TrumpsNational Security Advisor.

President Trump has consistently denied attempts to tie him to Russia.

In October, following months of investigation into suspected foreign meddling in the U.S. election, Breitbart News reported that the FBI determined Trump did not have ties to the Russian government.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope@AdelleNaz

See more here:
Democrat on House Intel Committee to Question Flynn over Russia - Breitbart News