Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) said Thursday that he will not attend the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend because President Donald Trump’s “attendance and hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed” in the museum.
“After careful consideration and conversations with church leaders, elected officials, civil rights activists, and many citizens of our congressional districts, we have decided not to attend or participate in the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum,” Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, said in a statement.
Lewis said the president’s “disparaging comments about women, the disabled, immigrants, and National Football League players disrespect the efforts” of civil rights leaders.
“The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi,” he added. “After President Trump departs, we encourage all Mississippians and Americans to visit this historic civil rights museum.”
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Paul Morigi via Getty Images
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., in May. He announced on Thursday that he will not attend the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend.
Facing a string of sexual misconduct allegations and mounting pressure from fellow Democrats, Sen. Al Franken announced Thursday he will leave office in the coming weeks. But Franken, a former comedian, didn’t go down without taking some scathing parting shots at President Donald Trump and Republicans who have been accused of similar actions.
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has preyed on underage girls is running for the Senate with the full support of his party,” Franken, D-Minn., said in emotional speech on the Senate floor.
He was referring to Trump, who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, and Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama, who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls. Trump and Moore have both denied the claims.
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Sen. Al Franken holds hands with his wife, Franni Bryson, as he leaves the Capitol after announcing his resignation. Jacquelyn Martin / AP
It was late morning in an artsy cafe, the smell of coffee and baked goods sweetening the air, and Ashley Bishop sat at a table, recalling a time when she was taught that most of secular American society was worthy of contempt.
Growing up in private evangelical Christian schools, Bishop saw the world in extremes, good and evil, heaven and hell. She was taught that to dance was to sin, that gay people were child molesters and that mental illness was a function of satanic influence. Teachers at her schools talked about slavery as black immigration, and instructors called environmentalists “hippie witches.”
Bishop’s family moved around a lot when she was a child, but her family always enrolled her in evangelical schools.
So when Bishop left school in 2003 and entered the real world at 17, she felt like she was an alien landing on Planet Earth for the first time. Having been cut off from mainstream society, she felt unequipped to handle the job market and develop secular friendships. Lacking shared cultural and historical references, she spent most of her 20s holed up in her bedroom, suffering from crippling social anxiety.
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Amanda Lucier for HuffPost
Ashley Bishop didn’t find out until after she graduated from Christian schools that she was unprepared for a wider world of education.
Larry Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison Thursday on child pornography charges. The former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor knowingly collected 37,000 images and videos of child pornography as early as 2003.
U.S. District Judge Janet Neff gave Nassar the toughest sentence possible. Nassar will consecutively serve 20 years for each of the three federal charges against him.
“He has demonstrated that he should never again have access to children,” Neff said in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, courtroom.
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Nassar arrives in court on Nov. 22, 2017. JEFF KOWALSKY via Getty Images
The British publicist who arranged the June 2016 meeting with Russians and Donald Trump Jr. sent multiple emails to a Russian participant and a member of Donald Trump’s inner circle later that summer, multiple sources told CNN, the first indication there was any follow-up after the meeting.
The emails raise new questions for congressional investigators about what was discussed at Trump Tower. Trump Jr. has for months contended that after being promised he would get dirt on Hillary Clinton, the brief meeting focused almost exclusively on the issue of Russian adoptions, saying there was no discussion with the participants after that session.
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The emails from the publicist, Rob Goldstone, were discovered by congressional investigators and raised at Wednesday’s classified hearing with Trump Jr., who said he could not recall the interactions, several sources said. None of the newly disclosed emails were sent directly to Trump Jr. They are bound to be a subject during Goldstone’s closed-door meetings with the House and Senate intelligence panels, which are expected to take place as early as next week.
Demonstrators continued pouring into the streets Thursday to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s highly controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city.
Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces across Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza strip on Thursday. Police even fired tear gas and stun grenades onto demonstrators in the city of Ramallah.
The day before in Gaza City and the city of Rafah, people chanted “Death to America,” “death to Israel” and “down with Trump.” They burned American and Israeli flags as well as photos of Trump, who alerted world leaders of the decision on Tuesday and formally announced the news Wednesday afternoon.
Demonstrators also gathered in several locations in Turkey, including both Istanbul and the country’s capital, Ankara, shouting slogans and brandishing Turkish and Palestinian flags. And Jordanian members of Parliament staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Amman.
The British man killed by falling rock in Yosemite National Park this week reportedly died sacrificing his life — shielding his wife as the debris rained down.
An aunt of Andrew Foster, a 32-year-old avid rock climber from Wales, told the British newspaper The Times that Foster had jumped to cover his wife, Lucy, as tons of rock came cascading down the face of El Capitan on Wednesday. The 3,600-foot granite monolith is among the most fearsome scaling challenges in the world and attracts seasoned climbers.
According to aunt Gillian Stephens, Lucy, 28, later told her: “Andrew saved my life. He dived on top of me as soon as he could see what was going to happen.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked Deutsche Bank to share data on accounts held by U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, a person close to the matter said on Tuesday.
Germany’s largest bank received a subpoena from Mueller several weeks ago to provide information on certain money and credit transactions, the person added, confirming a report by German daily Handelsblatt published on Tuesday.
Deutsche Bank, which has loaned the Trump organization millions of dollars for real estate ventures, said it would not comment on any of its clients.
Deutsche Bank rejected demands in June by U.S. House Democrats to provide details of Trump’s finances, citing privacy laws.
Russia’s Olympic team has been barred from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea as punishment for alleged state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Tuesday.
The IOC will allow individual athletes from Russia to compete as neutrals “under strict conditions” at the PyeongChang Games, with uniforms bearing the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia.”
“This was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement. “The IOC [executive board] after following due process, has issued proportional sanctions for this systemic manipulation while protecting the clean athletes. This should draw a line under this damaging episode and serve as a catalyst for a more effective anti-doping system.”
. The Russian delegation walks into the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on Feb. 7, 2014 in Sochi. Adrian Dennis / AFP – Getty Images file
Tiger Woods got off to a fast start and fired a four-under par 68 despite a pair of bogeys on the back nine as his comeback continued at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Friday.
The solid second-round effort, which included an eagle and four birdies, left the former world number one tied for fifth place at seven-under 137 in his first tournament in nearly 10 months following spinal fusion surgery.
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James' World 2 