Chicago, Illinois – A jury in Chicago began its deliberation on Thursday in one of the most closely-watched murder trials in recent memory in a city riven by racial divides, gun violence and police brutality.

Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago police officer, shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times on the night of October 20, 2014 as the African American teen, carrying a knife and ignoring police commands, appeared to walk away from him along a roadway.

At first, Van Dyke claimed to act in self-defence, but dashboard camera footage of the incident released a year later after a Freedom of Information Act request appears to showed otherwise, prompting massive public outcry and protests.

Van Dyke is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery, and one count of official misconduct. Three other officers are separately on trial for allegedly covering up Van Dyke’s actions.

The trial has riveted Chicago after years of fallout from the video’s release, including the firing of the city’s police chief, the ousting of the Cook County State’s Attorney and a federal investigation into the Chicago Police Department.

Dramatic moments in trial

The last few days in court included some of the trial’s most dramatic moments.

On Wednesday, Van Dyke stuck by his claim that he feared for his safety because McDonald was advancing on him with “bugged out” eyes, raising and pointing his knife. He said he needed to keep shooting because the McDonald continued to clutch the knife while was on the ground.

But the prosecution highlighted how many other officers did not shoot McDonald and instead had called for a taser to take him down non-fatally.

In another key moment, a psychologist said Van Dyke told him in a post-incident evaluation that he told his partner that they would “have to shoot this guy”, a possible indication of the officer’s intent before he encountered McDonald.

Robert Clarke, a criminal lawyer and former alderman in the city, said the verdict could go either way.

“Much of the testimony in [Van Dyke’s] defence was not borne out of the details off the video. You don’t see someone slashing and waving a knife in the direction of the police,” Clarke told Al Jazeera. “On the other hand, how can you get into the mind of a police officer who feels that someone can run at him with a weapon in his hand? … I can see it from both ways.”

A potential “compromise” could be to convict Van Dyke of second-degree murder, meaning Van Dyke unreasonably acted in self-defence, said lawyer Tony Thedford, who previously sued Van Dyke in a separate case and specialises in police misconduct cases.

“If I was representing Van Dyke, that’s what I would be attempting to achieve,” Thedford told Al Jazeera of a second-degree charge, adding that if convicted of second-degree murder the maximum he would serve behind bars would likely be half of a 20-year sentence. The first-degree charge carries a minimum 45-year sentence.  

Communities, schools, police prepare for verdict

The city is bracing for the verdict and its potential aftermath. 

Activists have already called for a demonstration outside City Hall for after the verdict is announced.

William Calloway, a black activist who filed the Freedom of Information Act request that led to the release of the dashboard camera video, said protesters should “completely shut down the city” if Van Dyke is not convicted.

“[If he is convicted] I think it will be a spirit of jubilee throughout the city, particularly in the African American parts of the city, and people will start to have a sense of hope in he law enforcement,” he told Al Jazeera.

“It will be the polar opposite if he is acquitted or there’s a hung jury. The jubilee will turn into anger and we’ve seen what anger can turn into in the past in other cities where police shootings have occurred.”

Police beefed up their presence across the city on Thursday, including along Michigan Avenue, an upscale thoroughfare where protesters blocked traffic and holiday shopping in late 2015 after the dash cam footage was release.

The Chicago Police Department told local media that it had a “comprehensive operating plan to ensure public safety in all of our neighborhoods while simultaneously protecting the rights of peaceful demonstrations”.

Schools are also gearing up for “potential civil unrest”, said Leeandra Khan, CEO of Civitas Education Partners, which operates four Chicago schools including three on the city’s mostly black south and west sides.

Khan told Al Jazeera she has been in touch with the Chicago Police Department who are deploying more officers around schools and preparing to make safe passageways in case students walk-out in protest of the verdict.

She said her schools are also preparing for the trial’s impact on campus, by holding after-school forums with social workers for students to “get off their chest” any feelings related to the shooting and the trial. They’ve also given additional lesson plans to teachers to help facilitate sensitive discussions during class time.

“We know this is gonna come up in classrooms,” she said. “At one of my schools a lot of my students come from the west side, so it will be  talked about a lot in the community, and when they come back to school there will likely be a response.”

Bette Midler is known for speaking her mind, but a now-deleted tweet has landed her in hot water. Now, she is apologizing for it.

In the controversial tweet Thursday, the “Hocus Pocus” actress, 72, wrote “women, are the n-word of the world.” 

She continued: “Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years They are the most disrespected creatures on earth.”

Related: Celebs react to Kanye West’s post-‘SNL,’ pro-Trump, anti-13th Amendment rant

After mass backlash and calls for the tweet’s deletion, Midler obliged three hours later and issued an apology.

“The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me. Angrily I tweeted w/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black,” she wrote Thursday night. “I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize.”

Her controversial quote paraphrases the title of a song written by Beatles member John Lennon and Yoko Ono from their 1972 album “Some Time in New York City.” The song was problematic during it’s release nearly five decades ago, and the reception of Midler’s tweet is no different today. 

Her post instantly sparked outrage, with many arguing it erases the struggle of black women and is blatantly disrespectful to the African-American community in light of social issues in our country.  

Midler’s post amassed more than 8,000 (mostly critical) comments and 14,000 likes before it was deleted. Atlantic reporter and former ESPN analyst Jemele Hill simply said: “Full stop.” 

Related: Kim Kardashian fires back at Bette Midler, posts another nude photo

Rosa Clemente, a Green Party candidate during the 2008 election and the first Afro-Latina to run for vice president, said Midler’s tweet “shows lack of knowledge on issues of race and concept of intersectionality.”

Also: Colin Kaepernick Nike ad: What Hollywood is saying about the controversial campaign

User @NoisyAstronomer, a self-proclaimed “feminist,” said Midler’s tweet is quite “awful.” She continued: “We HAVE to do better than this or we uphold the very systems of oppression that we are railing against.”

Related: Lenny Kravitz talks new album, racism and not being ‘black enough’

@j_yvonnes said it’s “disappointing” to see the quote is still being used today: “Women are highly disrespected – but don’t displace the atrocities that were done to black people by using that quote,” she wrote.

Also: Fans still waiting for refunds after Wanda Sykes’ Trump jokes trigger walkout in New Jersey

Another user, @dvnfgn, vowed to boycott Midler’s iconic Halloween film: “When Hocus Pocus comes on later this month…”

More: Norm Macdonald facing backlash, again, over ‘Down syndrome’ remarks to Howard Stern

In a follow up tweet, which was also deleted, Midler acknowledged that she offended many people but noted it was not about race: “‘Women are the…etc’ is a quote from Yoko Ono from 1972, which I never forgot. It rang true then, and it rings true today, whether you like it or not. This is not about race, this is about the status of women; THEIR HISTORY.”

Related: John McCain funeral: Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand mock Trump after ceremony

 

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Breaking down Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium:

Dodgers 6, Braves 0: Dodgers lead the series 1-0.

Game: The Dodgers, without Clayton Kershaw on the mound, cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Braves, who returned to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

The Dodgers put on a power display early and late to account for five of six runs. Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz, who allowed 17 homers over 183 innings during the regular season, coughed up two of them in his first 12 batters.  

Dodgers’ Joc Pederson, who set the franchise record for leadoff home runs this year, hit a leadoff homer and Max Muncy added a three-run rainbow shot in the second inning to stake Hyun-Jin Ryu to a 4-0 lead.

Enrique Hernandez added a solo homer off Brad Bach in the sixth inning for a 5-0 lead.  

Ryu was exceptionally sharp with his command, using a combination of cutters, curves and change-ups to put a very aggressive offensive team on its heels. In the end, he allowed four hits — all singles — and struck out eight with no walks over seven innings.

***

State of the series: The Dodgers head into Game 2 on Friday (9:37 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1) with the clear advantage. They have their ace Clayton Kershaw (9-5, 2.73 ERA) on the mound. While Kershaw wasn’t thrilled with the decision not to start Game 1, he accepted it. “I don’t need to prove myself to anyone,” he said. Kershaw’s presence on the mound alone is daunting, but he’s had his struggles in October, posting a 7-7 record with a 4.35 ERA. The Braves counter with Anibal Sanchez, who was 7-6 with a 2.83 ERA this season.

***

Pivot point: It didn’t take long. On the third pitch of the game from Foltynewicz, Pederson sent a 98 mph fastball 400 feet over the right center field for a home run. Forty-seven pitches later, Foltynewicz was relieved from the game with a 4-0 deficit.  

***

Man of the moment: Max Muncy, who was a non-roster invitee to spring training and wasn’t added to the 40-man roster until his call-up April 17, slugged a three-run homer in the second inning that lifted the Dodgers to 4-0 lead. He also played a big part in the tiebreaker game against the Colorado Rockies, connecting on a two-run homer in the win. Before 2018, he had five home runs to his credit. In 2018, he led the Dodgers and finished tied for fifth in the National League with 35 home runs.

***

What you missed on TV: Manny Machado jerseys were spotted in the stands — but with his namesake in a Baltimore Orioles uniform. What fan wouldn’t want to part ways with the Orioles, who lost a franchise-record 115 games, and be traded along with Machado to Hollywood. 

Follow Boeck on Twitter @scott_boeck

At San Francisco’s southeast corner sits the suburban-like district of Bayview.

The once predominantly African-American neighborhood largely consists of mom-and-pop shops and is defined by its deep sense of community identity, one that was partly born out of the area’s rich history in the city’s maritime and butcher industries.

But the neighborhood is in the midst of an on-going transformation since being tugged into San Francisco’s housing crisis. Housing developers are constantly clamoring for more space as the booming tech industry continues to create a high demand for living quarters.

But Bayview residents are determined to stand their ground and fend off the negative effects of gentrification snaking its way through other parts of the city.

I spent a day meandering through Bayview to see what it’s all about — and to witness how the most competitive real estate market in the world is affecting the fabric of the community.

Check it out:

China angrily denounced on Friday renewed US allegations that it was interfering in upcoming American midterm elections. 

In a wide-ranging speech delivered on Thursday night, US Vice President Mike Pence said Beijing was meddling in the vote to counter tough trade policies against China. The comments echoed those by President Donald Trump recently.  

Pence said Beijing’s actions add up to a simple message: “China wants a different American president.”

China hit back furiously on Friday, branding Pence’s accusation “ridiculous”.

Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Beijing objected to Pence’s “groundless” allegations and urged the US to stop hurting ties between the two superpowers.

“This is nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong, and creating something out of thin air,” Hua said in a strongly worded statement.

She said China was a “builder of world peace” with no interest in meddling in US elections.

“It is very ridiculous for the US side to stigmatise its normal exchanges and cooperation with China as China interfering in its internal affairs and elections,” Hua said.

“The international community has already known fully well who wantonly infringes upon others’ sovereignty, interferes in others’ internal affairs and undermines others’ interests.”

Relations between the world’s two largest economies have plummeted in recent weeks with Trump placing $250bn in tariffs on Chinese goods, in part over charges that Beijing forces US companies to hand over technological know-how. China responded with $60bn in tariffs on American products.

‘Covert actors’?

Pence also denounced China’s manoeuvres in the South China Sea, its oppression of Christians, Muslims and other religious believers, and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature infrastructure and foreign policy initiative.

But his statements on the November US elections were at the forefront of his speech.

“Beijing has mobilised covert actors, front groups and propaganda outlets to shift Americans’ perception of Chinese policies,” he said.

“What the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country and the American people deserve to know. China wants to turn these voters against our administration.”

The unusually expansive and aggressive criticism of Beijing by a senior US official indicated that Washington could be preparing to take a more confrontational approach with China on issues beyond just the trade dispute.

Pence also accused Beijing of showing its “aggression” when a Chinese navy vessel recently sailed in the dispute-ridden South China Sea near the USS Decatur destroyer, which according to US officials had to make a quick detour to avoid collision.

“Despite such reckless harassment, the United States Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand,” Pence said.

“We will not be intimidated; we will not stand down.”

China has maintained a calm tone as US language escalates. China’s ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai – in an interview with National Public Radio aired shortly before Pence’s address – said there was a “much larger need for cooperation” than competition with Washington.

China ‘broadside’

Analysts with the Eurasia Group consultancy noted the allegations of Chinese meddling are largely unsubstantiated and could allow Trump to distract from the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

They also said it was the first time a senior US official had delivered such a “broadside” against China on an array of issues.

“The more open tone of confrontation from Pence will strengthen the perception in China that the ultimate US objective in the [trade] dispute is to contain China’s rise,” the group’s analysts led by Asia director, Michael Hirson, wrote.

The vice president, a favourite of conservative US Christians, also criticised China on human rights, voicing disappointment that rising prosperity has not led to reforms.

China “has taken a sharp U-turn toward control and oppression”, Pence said. “A new wave of persecution is crashing down on Chinese Christians, Buddhists and Muslims.”

Pence’s sharply worded address comes days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit China on a trip focused on nuclear diplomacy with North Korea – an area in which the United States still seeks Beijing’s cooperation.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

WASHINGTON – As he and aides brace for a pivotal Senate debate on Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump told supporters Thursday that voters across the country will reject Democratic attempts to “destroy” his Supreme Court nominee.

“Their rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire,” Trump said during a political rally in Rochester, Minnesota, claiming that polls in several states show Republicans moving up in their efforts to keep control of Congress.

With Election Day coming up Nov. 6, both parties have begun using the Kavanaugh nomination as an issue in House and Senate races across the country.

The Republicans, including Trump, say the treatment of Kavanaugh will galvanize GOP voters and bring more of them to the polls. Democrats say it is their voters who are motivated to get out against Republicans who support a Supreme Court nominee credibly accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior.

“The Kavanaugh hearings and Republicans’ indifference to sexual assault have energized women voters – especially younger women voters – more than any issue in recent memory,” said Democratic consultant Lis Smith. “The GOP seems determined to turn the gender gap into a gender chasm.”

At his rally in Minnesota, Trump lauded Kavanaugh as a “brilliant” judge who is being unfairly accused because he is a Republican.

Employing some of his harshest rhetoric against the opposition party, Trump said Democrats are willing “to do anything, to hurt anyone, to get the power they so desperately crave … They want to resist, they want to obstruct, they want to delay demolish, they want to destroy.”

Trump did not criticize Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, as he did during a similar rally Tuesday night in Mississippi.

Several senators, including Republicans who are undecided about Kavanaugh, denounced Trump for his mocking impression of Ford discussing her testimony about sexual assault.

Given the nearly united Democratic opposition, Trump and aides are trying to win Kavanaugh’s confirmation by focusing on undecided Republican senators, particularly Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Trump visited Minnesota the night before a key procedural vote in the Senate on Friday morning that will test whether Kavanaugh has a majority of votes needed for confirmation.

A final confirmation vote in the Senate could take place over the weekend.

Trump left the White House for Minnesota hours after being briefed on an updated background of check of Kavanaugh. The White House received the report from the FBI in the wee hours of Thursday and transmitted it to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which had held hearings on the nominee.

Democrats called the FBI investigation inadequate and incomplete, and said senators still lack sufficient information on the sexual assault claims against Kavanaugh. Opponents also said Kavanaugh lied about various items during his confirmation hearings.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, saying political opponents have targeted him.

Trump and many Republican senators said nothing in the FBI report incriminates Kavanaugh, and they are pushing for a vote as soon as possible.

During the Minnesota rally, Trump said voters “are going to reject the Democrat politics of anger and destruction.”

In a wide-ranging stump speech, Trump also attacked critics of his policies ranging from trade to Russia to North Korea, and, as usual, he reserved special scorn for the news media.

“These people are loco, I tell you,” Trump said.

 

 

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