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Politics

Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Retiring Earlier than Sept. 11 Trial Begins

Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Retiring Before Sept. 11 Trial Begins

WASHINGTON – The army general who led a decade of war crimes charges in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is retiring and turning the trial of the five men charged with conspiracy in the September 11, 2001 attacks on a not yet elected successor.

Brig. General Mark S. Martins of the Army served as chief prosecutor for military commissions across the Obama and Trump administrations.

His decision to step down came as a surprise as he had received an extension until January 1, 2023. Instead, he will retire on September 30th, according to a statement from a public prosecutor’s office, Karen V. Loftus, to the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks.

General Martins, a graduate of Harvard Law School at West Point, had served as the public face of the military commissions for many years. During his early years in office, he ran a public speaking campaign to promote the hybrid form of justice established by the Bush administration after the invasion of Afghanistan.

The Obama administration made some changes to the system and decided to pursue the 9/11 case against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four accused accomplices in Guantánamo rather than in federal court. A death penalty case that has sunk in pre-trial proceedings since the indictment in May 2011 as the sites deal, among other things, with issues relating to the torture of the defendants in CIA prisons prior to their 2006 transfer to Guantánamo Bay.

Although no military judge is currently assigned to the case, Pentagon officials are preparing for its first hearings since February 2020, due to take place in the first two weeks of September, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the attack.

General Martins filed his annuity papers Wednesday after repeatedly arguing with lawyers from the Biden administration in Guantánamo court over positions of his office on applicable international law and the Convention against Torture, according to senior government officials who knew about the disputes. General Martins did not respond to a request for comment.

A major point of contention was General Martins’ recent decision to give a testimony to the CIA while tortured by a man accused of orchestrating the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 while he was being tortured to speak to the military judge, who presided over this case to take a stand is also a death sentence. Defense lawyers for prisoner Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri from Saudi Arabia are appealing the admissibility of this evidence.

On the same day that General Martins opted to retire, he filed a brief asking the U.S. Court of Justice to review the Military Commission for additional time to respond to the appeal.

“Has he been asked to resign or has he resigned in protest?” Said Navy Capt. Brian L. Mizer, Mr. Nashiri’s senior military defender. “I dont know.”

Ms. Loftus said General Martins had chosen to retire “in the best interests of the ongoing cases”. Military commission hearings are slated to resume next week for the first time since the pandemic began, in a case involving an Iraqi man accused of commanding armed forces that committed war crimes in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.

Ms. Loftus called the point in time “an ideal window for identifying a successor”, since proceedings “after the pandemic-related break are finally in sight for all of our cases”.

General Martins made an impressive figure in court with a height of six feet and a chest full of medals on his blue army uniform. As a former Rhodes Fellow, he had made it an important part of his job to meet and brief the families of the victims and to connect with some of them through social opportunities in Guantánamo Bay. In an effort to bring the 9/11 case to court, he had repeatedly received extensions of his term.

“My first thought is that only the defendants and family members will be left,” said Joel Shapiro, whose wife Sareve Dukat was killed in the World Trade Center and has since worked as a guide at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York. “Almost everyone else involved in this case took the opportunity to get on with their lives.”

“I was shocked that Mark was stepping down,” said Adele Welty, whose firefighter son Timothy was killed on September 11th. “I thought he was very committed to pulling it off. But who can blame him? The whole Guantánamo enterprise is almost comical in its ridiculous turns – judge after judge step down, and now General Martins. “

Chief Defense Counsel, Brig. General John G. Baker of the Marines, will leave his post on November 1st. The process of replacing him with a new one-star military attorney – to put him on a par with General Martins – was already underway as a potential candidate.

Defense officials said a panel would likely be put together to select a new chief prosecutor who could match the rank of Army Colonel rather than a one-star general. In the meantime, Ms. Loftus said, General Martins’ civilian deputy, Michael J. O’Sullivan, will serve as assistant chief defender.

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Entertainment

Lyon Dance Biennale Begins, Lowered however Unbowed

Lyon Dance Biennale Begins, Reduced but Unbowed

LYON, France – One million euros cut from the budget. Big shows canceled. And an elaborate parade through the city – an event that had attracted around 250,000 people – was dramatically rethought. Despite these obstacles, the 19th Lyon Dance Biennale became France’s first summer festival on June 1, less than two weeks after the country relaxed its Covid-19-related rules – a bit.

“We still have reduced capacities, we still have a curfew at 9 p.m., we can still only eat and drink outside,” said Dominique Hervieu, director of the Biennale, one of the most important dance festivals in Europe. “But I was absolutely determined that if we even opened the festival would take place.” (Some of these restrictions are due to be relaxed on Wednesday; the biennale runs through June 16.)

Hervieu, who had to cancel the festival in September (when it normally happens), said it cut the duration and cut some of the more expensive and logistically complex programs. A priority is to keep a new project, “L’Expérience Fagor”: a dense compilation of free performances, workshops, dance classes and digital interactions in the 29,000 square meter Fagor factory, where washing machines were once made.

“People ask, ‘If you’ve lost money, why do something for free?'” Said Hervieu. (The Biennale budget was reduced from € 8 million to € 7 million or $ 8.5 million after sponsors withdrew and box office projections were dramatically reduced.) “But after Covid there are lessons about solidarity, about democratization art, about listening to young people at a time when society is in crisis. “

Most of the 32 companies in this year’s main program are based in Europe, but around 100 African artists took part – part of a nationwide program by the French Institute Africa 2020. Many came to take part in the parade, which this year had a theatrical format a street procession. Short plays inspired by Africa were presented by 12 groups to a limited audience over two days in the vast ancient theater of Fourvière, which dates back to 1 BC. (Roseyne Bachelot, the French Minister of Culture, sat on the stone seats in the opening lecture on Saturday afternoon).

The festival lost some premieres (including Angelin Preljocaj’s “Swan Lake”) to pandemic logistics, but gained more. Dimitris Papaioannous “Transverse Orientation” should have opened in the prestigious Cour d’Honneur at the Avignon Festival last year. Instead, its premiere, arguably the most important of the Biennale, took place in Lyon last week.

Papaioannou, who began his artistic life as a visual artist and worked with the director Robert Wilson, slowly gained international fame. “Lateral orientation” confirms that it is worthwhile.

Like all pieces by Papaioannou, it is a meticulously crafted, intensely visual experience. The set (by Tina Tzoka and Loukas Bakas) is a plain white wall, interrupted by a narrow door and an intermittently flickering, humming neon light. This provides a blank canvas for painterly lighting (by Stephanos Droussiotis) in a range of delicate colors on which eight performers create an ever-changing and often breathtaking palette of images and tableaus – reminiscent of visual arts, myths and religion.

A man lies naked on a terrifyingly realistic bull that the other actors seem to control; another man’s penis appears to have been torn off; compound male-female bodies are formed and dissolved. A naked woman (the blissful Breanna O’Mara) framed in a shell-like cocoon looks like the goddess of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” and shows a different kind of childbirth, while a slowly dripping bag is placed against hers Belly held, gradually deflated to reveal a newborn.

There is also humor in the large, wobbly figures that open up the work (later you do a little tap dance), in the assembled bodies, in the figures that are jostled by forces beyond their control. Occasionally the plot seems deliberately indistinct, like the tedious removal of the stage walls at the end, which expose a shallow lake that a man is trying to mop up – quite Pina Bausch. But “lateral orientation” with almost two hours is usually a long act of artistic magic that is created before our eyes by the extremely precise actors.

Precision is also a key element in Yuval Pick’s “Vocabulary of Need,” which is used for various recordings and revisions of Bach’s instructive “Partita No. 2 in D minor” by Max Bruckert. It’s ambitious to race any choreography against this score, and Pick – an Israel-born, Batsheva-trained choreographer and based in France – creates an eccentric, loosely tossed, hopping movement that at first doesn’t seem to make any attempt to match it. But gradually a visual complexity grows as the eight dancers rush unpredictably on and off the stage. With different ensemble groupings and solos (Bravo to Noémie De Almeida Ferreira and Julie Charbonnier), the piece slowly feels like a kinetic addition to the music – no small achievement.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the director of the Lyon Opera Ballet, Julie Guibert, decided to initiate a project; the creation of 30 solos for the 30 dancers of the company. Seven have already been seen and another five celebrated their premiere on Saturday in Les Subsistances, a cave-like cultural center on the banks of the Saône. (Despite cuts, this year biennial events will be held in 48 different theaters and 37 cities in the Lyon area, Hervieu said.)

The mood was rather gloomy. “Love”, a solo for Paul Vezin, by Marcos Morau, borrowed from circus and clown tropes, but took place in gloomy darkness. “La Venerina” by Nina Santes for Elsa Monguillot de Mirman was a boring mutant fantasy. The best pieces were Noé Soulier’s “Self Duet”, in which Katrien De Bakker tied herself into complex knots on her own body using ballet partnering techniques; Rachid Ouramdane’s “jours effaces” (“extinguished days”) for Léoannis Pupo-Guillen, a touching portrait of a man who seems to have lost touch with himself and the world; and Ioannis Mandafounis’ “Come and get your Antliz”, a happy festival of movement directed against the grain for the wonderful dancer Yan Leiva.

This biennial was not the densely layered, hectic event of the past few years. There was no hectic rush from one performance to the next, no post-performance conversations with artists, no chance for the many moderators and experts at the festival to network over a drink or meal. But the show went on. As Germaine Acogny, the grande dame of African dance, who performed her autobiographical solo “Somewhere at the Beginning” on Friday, wrote in the festival program: “Dare. Dream. To sing. To dance.”

Dance Biennale Lyon

Until June 16; labiennaledelyon.com.

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Health

U.S. begins research testing mix-and-match Covid vaccine doses

U.S. begins study testing mix-and-match Covid vaccine doses

A healthcare doctor prepares a dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) vaccine for a commuter during the opening of MTA’s public vaccination program on the 179th Street subway station in the Queens borough of New York City in front. USA, May 12, 2021.

Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

The National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that they had started an early-stage clinical trial looking into what happens when an adult fully vaccinated with a type of Covid-19 vaccine like Pfizer’s is boosted with another vaccination about three to four months later.

The study will enroll approximately 150 adults who have received any of the three Covid vaccination regimens currently available under the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency approval: Johnson & Johnsons, Moderna, or Pfizer.

Federal health officials said people who have not yet received an approved vaccine are also eligible to enroll in a separate group for the study. These volunteers will receive two doses of the vaccine from Moderna and will receive a booster dose of one of the three vaccines around 12 to 20 weeks later, officials said.

“Although the vaccines currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration offer strong protection against COVID-19, we must prepare for the possibility that booster vaccinations will be required to counter declining immunity and step up with an evolving virus said Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a member of the NIH.

“The results of this study are intended to inform public health policy decisions about the potential use of mixed vaccination schedules in the event that booster doses are indicated,” he added.

The study is taking place as drug makers and some scientists are now saying that people will likely need a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccines and possibly additional vaccinations every year, just like they did with seasonal flu.

Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines currently require two doses three to four weeks apart, while Johnson & Johnson vaccines only require one prick. All three vaccines have been shown to be highly effective against Covid, although company executives now expect this strong protection to wear off over time.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said last month that Covid-19 booster vaccinations could be required for fully vaccinated individuals within a year.

“So, hopefully, you know, it would be nice if it turned out it would be a year before someone needed a refresher,” said Marks on the 18th of school and junior journalists.

“But we still don’t know,” he added. “It could be more, it could be a little less, but … that’s just something we need to find out over time.”

Each vaccine group in the NIH study will enroll about 25 people ages 18 to 55 and about 25 people ages 56 and older.

Twelve to 20 weeks after their initial vaccination, participants in the study will receive a single booster dose of the Moderna vaccine.

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Business

Related Press Begins Overview of Social Media Coverage After Emily Wilder Firing

A.P. Begins Review of Social Media Policy After Journalist’s Firing

The Associated Press has launched a review of its social media guidelines after more than 150 employees publicly condemned the firing of a young journalist for violating these guidelines.

In a memo to global newsrooms Monday, the AP’s top editors said they heard the concerns of many journalists over the weekend and were “determined to broaden the conversation on the AP’s approach to social media.”

The news agency faced a backlash after Emily Wilder, a 22-year-old news worker who joined the company in Arizona, was fired on May 19, three weeks after she was hired.

Ms. Wilder, who graduated from Stanford University in 2020 and worked in the Republic of Arizona, said in a statement Friday that she was the subject of a campaign by Stanford College Republicans whose social media posts were based on their pro Palestine had drawn attention to activism at the university. She added that her editors had assured her that she would not be fired for her previous legal work.

“Less than 48 hours later, the AP fired me,” she said. “The reason given was that I allegedly violated The AP’s social media guidelines between my first day and Wednesday. In the meantime, powerful conservatives like Senator Tom Cotton, Ben Shapiro, and Robert Spencer have cursed me repeatedly online. When I asked my managers what exact tweets were violating the guidelines or how, they refused to tell me. “

Ms. Wilder, who is Jewish, tweeted about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians while at The AP. In a tweet, she said that “using” Israel “but never” Palestine “or” war “but not” siege and occupation “are political choices – yet the media makes these exact decisions all the time without being biased to be marked. “

Dozens of AP journalists signed an open letter after Ms. Wilder’s dismissal, criticizing the news agency and asking for clarification on how it had violated the company’s social media guidelines.

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Updated

May 25, 2021 at 5:16 p.m. ET

“The lack of clarity about the violations of social media policy has made AP journalists afraid of getting involved in any form on social media – often critical for our work,” the letter said.

Ten editorial directors responded in a memo on Monday to staff announcing a plan to review their policies. They said formal groups would discuss ideas and make recommendations, and a committee of staff would review the recommendations by September 1st. Any policy changes would then be brought up in the next round of contract negotiations with the union representing AP workers, the News Media Guild.

“One of the issues raised in the past few days is the belief that social media restrictions prevent you from being your real self, and that it disproportionately does this to color journalists, LGBTQ journalists and others who are often attacked online harms, “says the memo.

The editors said in the note that “much of the coverage” of Ms. Wilder’s dismissal does not accurately reflect “a difficult decision that we did not make lightly”.

Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for The AP, said the company had generally not commented on staff, but confirmed that Ms. Wilder has been fired for violating social media policy.

“We understand that other news organizations may not have made the same decision,” she said. “While many news organizations offer viewpoints, opinion columnists, and editorials, AP does not. We do not express an opinion. Our foundation is fact-based, unbiased reporting. “

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Business

A.P. Begins Evaluation of Social Media Coverage After Journalist’s Firing

A.P. Begins Review of Social Media Policy After Journalist’s Firing

The Associated Press has launched a review of its social media guidelines after more than 150 employees publicly condemned the firing of a young journalist for violating these guidelines.

In a memo to global newsrooms Monday, the AP’s top editors said they heard the concerns of many journalists over the weekend and were “determined to broaden the conversation on the AP’s approach to social media.”

The news agency faced a backlash after Emily Wilder, a 22-year-old news worker who joined the company in Arizona, was fired on May 19, three weeks after she was hired.

Ms. Wilder, who graduated from Stanford University in 2020 and worked in the Republic of Arizona, said in a statement Friday that she was the subject of a campaign by Stanford College Republicans whose social media posts were based on their pro Palestine had drawn attention to activism at the university. She added that her editors had assured her that she would not be fired for her previous legal work.

“Less than 48 hours later, the AP fired me,” she said. “The reason given was that I allegedly violated The AP’s social media guidelines between my first day and Wednesday. In the meantime, powerful conservatives like Senator Tom Cotton, Ben Shapiro, and Robert Spencer have cursed me repeatedly online. When I asked my managers what exact tweets were violating the guidelines or how, they refused to tell me. “

Ms. Wilder, who is Jewish, tweeted about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians while at The AP. In a tweet, she said that “using” Israel “but never” Palestine “or” war “but not” siege and occupation “are political choices – yet the media makes these exact decisions all the time without being biased to be marked. “

Dozens of AP journalists signed an open letter after Ms. Wilder’s dismissal, criticizing the news agency and asking for clarification on how it had violated the company’s social media guidelines.

In business today

Updated

May 25, 2021 at 5:16 p.m. ET

“The lack of clarity about the violations of social media policy has made AP journalists afraid of getting involved in any form on social media – often critical for our work,” the letter said.

Ten editorial directors responded in a memo on Monday to staff announcing a plan to review their policies. They said formal groups would discuss ideas and make recommendations, and a committee of staff would review the recommendations by September 1st. Any policy changes would then be brought up in the next round of contract negotiations with the union representing AP workers, the News Media Guild.

“One of the issues raised in the past few days is the belief that social media restrictions prevent you from being your real self, and that it disproportionately does this to color journalists, LGBTQ journalists and others who are often attacked online harms, “says the memo.

The editors said in the note that “much of the coverage” of Ms. Wilder’s dismissal does not accurately reflect “a difficult decision that we did not make lightly”.

Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for The AP, said the company had generally not commented on staff, but confirmed that Ms. Wilder has been fired for violating social media policy.

“We understand that other news organizations may not have made the same decision,” she said. “While many news organizations offer viewpoints, opinion columnists, and editorials, AP does not. We do not express an opinion. Our foundation is fact-based, unbiased reporting. “

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Health

Medical hashish agency backed by Snoop Dogg begins buying and selling in London

Medical cannabis firm backed by Snoop Dogg begins trading in London

Recording artist Snoop Dogg speaks on stage on day one of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70 on September 21, 2015 in San Francisco, California.

Getty Images

LONDON – Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies, happily endorsed by rapper Snoop Dogg and tobacco giant Imperial Brands, launched on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.

The British company, which specializes in developing pain relieving cannabinoid drugs, grossed £ 16.5 million ($ 23.4 million) in gross proceeds on its IPO with a starting market value of just over £ 48 million ($ 69 million) .1 million USD).

The share price hovered around 5p on Friday lunchtime after opening near 8p.

Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr., has invested in several cannabis startups, including OCT, through his venture capital firm Casa Verde. His firm has also supported plant-based food companies like Outstanding Foods and tech names like Klarna, Robinhood, and Reddit.

Cannabinoids are naturally occurring compound chemicals found in the cannabis sativa plant and are commonly used for medicinal purposes to treat symptoms such as chronic pain.

OCT’s strategy is to develop cannabinoid drugs for the non-addictive treatment of painful conditions. CEO John Lucas told CNBC on Friday the company plans to use the proceeds of its IPO to develop four new drugs.

“The key here is getting cannabinoids into the hands of patients and the way you do that happens through the drug development process,” Lucas told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.

“With medical cannabis, the problem is that doctors can’t prescribe it, so we want a drug that we can get into the hands of doctors, into the hands of patients.”

In its listing announcement, OCT said its “primary market focus is on the total addressable pain market, valued at at least £ 42.5 billion through the commercialization of the first drug manufactured by OCT, currently expected in 2027.”

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Politics

U.S. begins Afghanistan withdrawal, deploys army property to guard troops

U.S. begins Afghanistan withdrawal, deploys military assets to protect troops

U.S. Marines board a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Cpl. Alejandro Pena | U.S. Marine Corps Photo

WASHINGTON – The White House confirmed Thursday that the U.S. military has begun its withdrawal from Afghanistan and has proactively deployed additional troops and military equipment to protect the armed forces in the area.

“Potential opponents should know that if they attack us as we retreat, we will defend ourselves. [and] our partners, with all the tools at our disposal, “White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling on Air Force One.

“While these measures will initially lead to an increase in the armed forces, we continue to advocate evicting all US military personnel from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021,” she said, adding that the Biden administration is unifying Intended “safe and responsible” exit from the war-torn country.

The Pentagon has temporarily delivered B-52H Stratofortress aircraft to US Central Command, the combatant command that oversees American operations in the Middle East. A US Navy strike group is also in the area to provide assistance.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has previously said that the Department of Defense leadership will continue to consider the need for additional military capabilities as U.S. and coalition forces continue to migrate.

Earlier this month, Biden announced a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending America’s longest war.

The removal of approximately 3,000 US soldiers coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks that spurred America’s entry into protracted wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Biden’s withdrawal schedule breaks with a proposed deadline agreed with the Taliban by the Trump administration last year. According to this agreement, all foreign armed forces should have left Afghanistan by May 1st.

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World News

US Navy Begins Remaining Withdrawal from Afghanistan

US Military Begins Final Withdrawal from Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – The US military has begun its full withdrawal from Afghanistan, the American commander in chief said Sunday, marking the beginning of the end of the United States’ nearly 20-year-old war in the country.

“I now have a number of orders,” said General Austin S. Miller, head of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, at a press conference by Afghan journalists at the US military headquarters in Kabul, the capital. “We will conduct an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, and that means that bases and equipment will be handed over to the Afghan security forces.”

General Miller’s remarks come nearly two weeks after President Biden announced that all US forces would be out of the country by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that drove the United States in its long war in Afghanistan.

Mr Biden’s announcement was received with uncertainty in Afghanistan as it prepares for a future without a US and NATO military presence, despite a Taliban uprising that appears poised for military victory despite peace talks.

If the Taliban return to power – either through violence or through incorporation into government – they will likely take back women’s rights, as they did during their harsh rule in the late 1990s.

For now, the Afghan security forces, which have survived a particularly difficult winter, are holding the line. Taliban offensives in the south and repeated attacks in the north despite the cold weather have resulted in increasing casualties ahead of a potentially violent summer in which US and NATO forces are retreating. Although the Afghan military and police combined are believed to have around 300,000 employees, the real number is believed to be much lower.

“I am often asked how the security forces are doing. Can the security guards do the work in our absence? “General Miller said. “And my message has always been the same: you have to be ready.”

General Miller added that “certain equipment” must be withdrawn from Afghanistan, “but wherever possible,” the United States and international forces will leave material for the Afghan forces.

There are approximately 3,500 US troops in Afghanistan and approximately 7,000 NATO and Allied forces. These NATO forces are likely to pull out along with the United States as many countries in the coalition depend on American support.

At the head of the international armed forces in Afghanistan there are also around 18,000 contractors in the country, almost all of whom will also be leaving. General Miller said some of the treaties “need to be adjusted” to continue to support the Afghan security forces, which rely heavily on contractor support, particularly the Afghan Air Force. The thousands of private contractors in Afghanistan perform a variety of roles including security, logistics, and aircraft maintenance.

According to last year’s peace agreement with the Taliban, US and international forces should withdraw from the country by May 1. Under the deal, the Taliban have largely refrained from attacking US troops. However, it remains unclear whether the insurgent group will attack the withdrawing forces after Mr Biden decided to set the final deadline later in September.

“We have the military means and the ability to fully protect our armed forces and support the Afghan security forces during retrograde development,” said General Miller.

American troops are still spread out in a constellation of around a dozen bases, most of which contain small groups of special forces advising the Afghan military. To cover the withdrawal, the American military has provided significant air support, including positioning an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf in case the Taliban decide to attack.

Categories
Politics

Jury begins deliberating in Derek Chauvin homicide trial

Jury begins deliberating in Derek Chauvin murder trial

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin and his defense attorney Eric Nelson attend the final confrontation during the Chauvin’s trial for second degree, third degree and second degree homicide in the death of George Floyd with his defense attorney Eric Nelson in Minneapolis, Minnesota , part. US April 19, 2021 in a still from video.

Reuters

Prosecutors and the defense advanced their final arguments to the jury on Monday in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the white ex-police officer who was accused of killing George Floyd last May.

The anonymous, multiracial jury can now deliberate until a unanimous verdict is reached.

Violent police violence against black men broke out in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

“You can believe your eyes,” Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told the jury. A video of Chauvin with his knee to Floyd’s neck was a central aspect of the prosecution.

“Why is it necessary to continue to lethally restrain a man who is defenseless, who is handcuffed, who does not resist, who does not breathe, who has no pulse?” Blackwell added.

“It was like he was in a truck. It was like being squeezed into a truck,” said prosecutor Steve Schleicher.

Schleicher pushed back the defense’s arguments that Floyd died as a result of his underlying health conditions and drug use.

“You don’t have to believe the amazing coincidence that after this nine-minute restriction of 29 seconds, Floyd” chose this moment to die of heart disease, “said Schleicher.

Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, began his arguments to get the jury to think deeply about whether Chauvin was acting within the law.

“The standard is not what the officer should have done in the circumstances. It is not what the officer could have done otherwise,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the standard was what a reasonable officer would do in any circumstance he or she faces.

“All the evidence shows that Mr. Chauvin thought he was following his training,” said Nelson. “There is absolutely no evidence that the officer chauvin intentionally and deliberately used unlawful violence.”

The case is the best-known litigation involving a white officer accused of killing a black man in recent years.

Immediately after the arguments concluded, Nelson asked Judge Peter Cahill to issue a mistrial, citing comments from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. Waters called on protesters on Saturday to “become more confrontational” if the jury concludes that they are not guilty.

Cahill turned down a lawsuit but said, “I give you that Congressman Waters may have given you something on appeal.”

“I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in ways that do not respect the rule of law, the judiciary or our role,” said Cahill.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was briefed on the case during a press conference Monday afternoon. Psaki declined to say whether President Joe Biden would be personally disappointed if Chauvin was found not guilty.

The final arguments put forward two very different versions of what happened on May 25, the day Floyd died after Chauvin and other Minneapolis police officers tried to arrest him on suspicion of passing a forged bill.

The Floyd family and Reverend Al Sharpton gesticulate as they arrive at the Hennepin County Government Center to finalize testimony on the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA in April 19, 2021.

Nicholas Pfosi | Reuters

Prosecutors and their experts have told the jury that Chauvin killed Floyd by cutting off his airway with the police officer’s knee while the black suspect was handcuffed and pegged to the floor for about 9 minutes.

During the trial, they made extensive use of video footage recorded by bystanders showing Floyd pleading for his life and telling officers he could not breathe.

The prosecutor also called Dr. Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist and respiratory science expert, who testified that Floyd had died of a lack of oxygen.

“A healthy person exposed to what Mr. Floyd was exposed to would have died,” Tobin told the jury.

Schleicher relied heavily on Tobin’s earlier statements in his final arguments.

“It was very clear that George Floyd died of low oxygen levels,” he said.

The indictment was led by Matthew Frank, an attorney with the Minnesota Attorney General. Two other prosecutors, Schleicher and Blackwell, shared the final arguments.

The defense led by Nelson argued that Floyd died as a result of the large amount of the drug fentanyl that he was taking prior to his arrest in addition to his underlying medical problems. An autopsy also found methamphetamine in Floyd’s system.

Nelson also tried to label the crowd of spectators who were there on May 25 as a threat to the arresting officers and to make their work more difficult. He has argued that Chauvin’s knee may not be on Floyd’s neck, but rather was on his back.

Nelson also highlighted obvious discrepancies between the prosecution’s arguments and Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County’s medical examiner, who performed Floyd’s autopsy.

Baker ruled Floyd’s death was murder, but did not establish that the cause of death was asphyxiation or lack of oxygen as prosecutors alleged.

“The sub-dual law enforcement, reluctance, and neck compression were simply more than Mr. Floyd could endure due to this heart condition,” Baker said.

Dr. David Fowler, a former Maryland chief medical officer called on by the defense, testified that carbon monoxide fumes from a nearby vehicle may have contributed to his death in addition to his enlarged heart, high blood pressure, and drug use.

Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter. Each of these allegations requires prosecutors to show that chauvin was a “major contributing factor” to Floyd’s death.

Second degree murder is sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison. Third degree murder is 25 years maximum and manslaughter charges are 10 years maximum. Actual penalties are often below the legal maximums.

Jurors are instructed that if they have reasonable doubts about Chauvin’s guilt, they must not vote guilty. A unanimous jury is required to convict any of the cases.

The jury consists of 14 people, including two deputies who can be dismissed before the deliberations. The diverse group consists of two multiracial women, three black men, one black woman, six white women, and two white men.

The trial comes as tensions are high. On April 11, while the clashes were ongoing, police officer Kimberly Potter Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, fatally shot and killed during a traffic obstruction in nearby Brooklyn Center and sparked protests.

Potter stepped back, claiming she thought she was using a taser. She was charged with second degree manslaughter.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Categories
Health

U.S. begins testing Moderna’s Covid vaccine booster photographs for variant from South Africa

U.S. begins testing Moderna's Covid vaccine booster shots for variant from South Africa

A nurse draws a vaccine for Moderna Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on March 5, 2021 at the East Valley Community Health Center in La Puente, California.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

The National Institutes of Health have started testing a new coronavirus vaccine from Moderna, which is designed to protect against a problematic variant first found in South Africa, the agency said on Wednesday.

According to the agency, the phase 1 study, which is led and funded by the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases of the NIH, will test how safe and effective the new shot is against the variant known as B.1.351 in around 210 healthy adults .

The study, which has already had some of the first vaccinations, will include approximately 60 adults who participated in Moderna’s original Covid-19 vaccine studies last year, as well as approximately 150 people who have not yet received a Covid-19 vaccine at one Statement.

Returning participants, who were given two syringes of the original vaccine 28 days apart at different doses early last year, will split up.

Some of them get a single booster shot with the new vaccine at a higher dose while others get the new vaccine at a lower dose, the statement said. Remaining participants will be offered a booster shot with the original vaccine “as part of a separate clinical trial protocol”.

Researchers will take blood samples from participants throughout the study, which can be tested against other circulating strains of the virus to see if the vaccine elicits an immune response.

The study will recruit volunteers in the Atlanta, Cincinnati, Seattle and Nashville, Tennessee areas and should be fully enrolled by the end of April, the agency said.

Variant B.1.351, first discovered in South Africa at the end of last year, has given scientists more cause for concern compared to other variants. The variant appears to spread more easily than the original “wild-type” strains, and research shows that it may evade some of the safeguards created by therapeutics and vaccines.

So far, 312 Covid-19 cases with variant B.1.351 have been identified in the United States, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Preliminary data shows that the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the US should provide adequate protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants,” said NIAID Director and Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a statement.

“However, out of caution, NIAID has continued its partnership with Moderna to evaluate this variant vaccine candidate should an updated vaccine be required,” said Fauci.

The US Food and Drug Administration has already announced that it will accelerate the approval process for the updated vaccines, which target the problematic variants, so that no lengthy clinical trials are required.

However, an independent safety monitoring committee will continue to monitor the trials to ensure the shots are safe, the NIH statement said.