Houston police officer under investigation after participating in U.S. Capitol riot

Pretty easy – use trace of his cell phone to shaw whether he was inside the capitol or if on grounds after unlawful assembly was declared
Houston police officers and SWAT team members on the scene in a west Houston neighborhood where a gunman with an assault rifle shot one man and injured 6 before being killed by a SWAT officer on May 29, 2016.

A Houston police officer is under investigation for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week, Chief Art Acevedo announced Wednesday.

Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

An 18-year veteran of the Houston Police Department is under federal investigation for his participation in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

On Sunday, a community member sent Acevedo a picture of the patrol officer carrying a Trump flag outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 rally, Acevedo said. The officer had also posted a photo of himself at the Capitol on Facebook. Acevedo then contacted the FBI to launch a joint investigation into the officer’s role in the riot.

“There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer,” Acevedo said. “I can’t tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to go storm the Capitol.”

Acevedo did not share the officer’s name. He had no disciplinary history, the chief said.

After determining that the officer had entered the Capitol during the riot, Acevedo placed him on paid administrative leave and scheduled a disciplinary hearing for this Friday following a required two-day waiting period. He will likely face federal charges, Acevedo said.

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he has not spoken to the officer. Since the officer wasn’t acting in a law enforcement capacity at the time, he said the union will not be involved.

“When you enter the Capitol knowing it’s a crime, well, then you have to deal with the punishment coming along with that,” Griffith said.

The officer’s options now are to resign, meet with Acevedo at the hearing Friday and explain his actions, or not go to the hearing and let the chief fire him, Griffith said.

State Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Houston Democrat, praised Acevedo for his leadership through a challenging time.

“Whether it’s this person or anyone else, everybody that was involved in [the Capitol riot] should face federal charges,” Alvarado said. Acevedo “is a leader in our city, well-regarded in the law enforcement community, and I think it’s the responsible thing for him to do.”

This news comes on the heels of another federal investigation into Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Roxanne Mathai for her own participation in last week’s events in D.C. Mathai posted a series of images on Facebook showing her draped in a Trump flag inside the Capitol, KSAT reported on Thursday.

“Not gonna lie…..aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it’s not over yet,” Mathai wrote on Facebook.

Last week, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a press conference that he forwarded the posts and images to D.C. law enforcement officials and the FBI.

“Whether it happens here within the confines of these four walls or whether it happens in another state or another country, you break the law, I promise I’m going to hold you accountable here,” Salazar said.

Earlier Wednesday, political news site The Appeal published a tracker tallying the total number of law enforcement officers from around the country who participated in the Capitol riot. So far, the site has counted 26 who were spotted at the violent rally.

Additional reporting by Jolie McCullough.

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Olympic swimming champion Klete Keller charged over US Capitol invasion

A headline like this one and wearing his team jacket show that he was there to get recognition for himself more than to show his self-delusions about government.

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  • Two-time gold medallist charged on three counts over unrest
  • 38-year-old was teammate of Michael Phelps on US relay teams

Olympic swimming champion Klete Keller has been charged over the invasion of the US Capitol by a pro-Donald Trump mob last week.

The 38-year-old won two relay gold medals as a teammate of Michael Phelps at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Charges of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in the Capitol building and impeding law enforcement were filed against Keller in a Washington DC court on Wednesday.

Continue reading…

Coronavirus tracker: California reported 49,252 new cases, 609 new deaths as of Jan. 12

California reported 49,252 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of people who have been infected to 2,793,257, according to California public heath websites’ end-of-day totals as of Jan. 12.

There were also 609 new deaths reported in California, bringing the total number of people who have died in the state to 31,055.

There were 115 fewer patients admitted into California hospitals, making for 22,550 hospitalizations statewide.

RELATED: What public health leaders mean by ‘0% ICU beds available

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

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U.S. Bans All Cotton and Tomatoes From Xinjiang Region of China

The ban will increase not lessen the burden of farmers and workers, it will increase their burden but GOP will feel sanctimonious and will make believe that the policy is a good one.

The sweeping ban, which was based on concerns about forced labor in the region, could compel companies to reorganize their multinational supply chains.

Outcry over COVID-19 food parcels for UK children prompts U-turn | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 13.01.2021 (Ten days of food – not!)

UK food parcel “We were gobsmacked,” Mizz, who didn’t want to give her full name, told DW. “I grew up poor, and I know poor. I can make a meal out of thin air — but not with this,” the 41-year-old said. Mizz said her parcel was meant to provide lunch for her 12-year-old for 10 days: one loaf of bread, half a cucumber, one pepper, a few potatoes, a block of cheese, a pack of butter, four pieces of fruit, a chocolate bar and some salty snacks. Source: Outcry over COVID-19 food parcels for UK children prompts U-turn | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 13.01.2021

Ken Paxton is only state attorney general in the U.S. who didn’t sign letters condemning Capitol insurrection

He should be impeached
Attorney General Ken Paxton spoke at the Texas Federation of Republican Women Convention in Dallas on Oct. 19, 2017.

Paxton’s critics said they are not surprised the attorney general, among a number of Republicans and Trump supporters who have falsely claimed the election was stolen by Democrats, did not sign on to the letters.

Credit: Laura Buckman/The Texas Tribune

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the only state attorney general in the United States who did not sign on to one of two letters sent this week condemning the violent insurrection of the U.S. Capitol mounted last week by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Paxton has individually condemned the violence on television and social media while falsely claiming the pro-Trump mob that invaded the Capitol was infiltrated by liberal antifa activists. There has been no evidence that antifa activists participated in the Jan. 6 attack that left five people dead and was intended to disrupt the certification of the presidential election results.

Attorneys general from 46 states — in addition to those representing Washington D.C. and three U.S. territories — signed a letter Tuesday sent to Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen condemning the attack. Only Paxton and the Republican attorneys general from Louisiana, Indiana and Montana did not sign the letter.

“The events of January 6 represent a direct, physical challenge to the rule of law and our democratic republic itself,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter, sent by the National Association of Attorneys General. “As Americans, and those charged with enforcing the law, we must come together to condemn lawless violence, making clear that such actions will not be allowed to go unchecked.”

By Wednesday, those three holdouts sent Rosen their own letter, which Paxton also did not sign.

In addition to condemning the violent mob, the three attorneys general urged their colleagues to “stand together against all political violence,” calling out antifa activists.

Asked why he did not sign either letter of condemnation, Paxton said through a spokesperson that he “already addressed this issue multiple times” and pointed to recent tweets and a Fox News interview in which he disavowed the mob and “absolutely” said its violent actors should be prosecuted.

“A certain, small percentage of those people crossed the line, and when you … cross the line, and you start harming other people’s property, and you start harming people, you should be held accountable,” Paxton said in the Jan. 7 interview with Fox Business.

Paxton signed on to a Jan. 6 statement from the Republican Attorneys General Association condemning the violence, saying “I call on protesters in our state and our nation’s Capital to practice their constitutional right in a peaceful manner. I stand for election integrity and the democratic process. I will not tolerate violence and civil disorder.”

Paxton’s critics said they are not surprised the attorney general, among a number of Republicans and Trump supporters who have falsely claimed the election was stolen by Democrats, did not sign on to the letters. The morning of the attack, Paxton, a co-chair of the Lawyers for Trump coalition, urged Trump supporters to continue fighting President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

“After inciting the violence we saw last week and wasting Texas taxpayer dollars on baseless lawsuits that never see any results, Paxton is an embarrassment to this state and a traitor to this country,” said Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, Paxton’s office was also hit with the loss of one of its top staffers.

Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins is leaving the agency, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The exit comes in the wake of a scandal at the agency, and also Paxton’s controversial lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the election results, which Hawkins — the agency’s appellate expert — did not sign onto. Hawkins has not answered questions about his decision to leave or why his name did not appear on the case.

Emma Platoff contributed to this report.

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Dollar General to pay workers to get COVID-19 vaccine in retail first

smart move

By Jonathan Roeder | Bloomberg

Dollar General Corp. is offering workers extra pay to encourage them to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as quickly as possible.

Hourly employees will get the equivalent of four hours of pay after getting the vaccine, while salaried workers will receive “additional store labor hours to accommodate their time away from the store,” the discount retailer said in a statement. It also will provide assistance to its distribution and transportation teams.

The announcement offers an early look at how retailers will deal with getting millions of frontline workers the vaccine — an urgent issue from both a safety and operational standpoint, as well as an unprecedented logistical undertaking. About 10 million people have received the first dose of a COVID vaccine since immunizations started in December, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

Dollar General shares fell less than 1% at 9:40 a.m. in New York.

The company, which said it doesn’t want workers to have to choose between receiving the vaccine and other needs like child care and travel time, noted that it’s encouraging, not requiring, employees get vaccinated.

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