close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for March 2 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Democrats in the House and Senate reintroduced legislation this week to end qualified immunity for law enforcement officers to pave the way for alleged victims of police brutality to file lawsuits. Rep. Ayanna Pressley , D-Mass., along with fellow Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren , are among the co-sponsors of the " Ending Qualified Immunity Act " that aims to abolish the legal protections for law enforcement officers from civil lawsuits. "There will not be true racial justice until we end qualified immunity," Markey said in a statement. Pressley and former Rep. Justin Amash, a Libertarian from Michigan, first introduced the legislation last year after the death of George Floyd during an arrest by Minneapolis police that sparked civil unrest throughout the summer. POLICING THE UNIONS: CALLS FOR 'GUARDRAILS' ON POLICE UNION COLLECTIVE BARGAINING GROW AMID REFORM DEMANDS The legislation states that the qualified immunity doctrine, which can protect cops from being held personally liable, does not provide police officers that brutalize or otherwise violate civil rights with defense or immunity from liability for their actions. If qualified immunity is eliminated, many more lawsuits against police could proceed to a trial or settlement, and police departments could have more trouble finding insurance carriers to pay out the uptick in settlements to victims of police brutality. Other co-sponsors include Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and progressive Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Cori Bush, D-Mo. POLICING THE UNIONS: AFTER YEARS OF UNION OBJECTIONS, POLICE REFORM LEGISLATION ADVANCES Pressley, a member of the so-called progressive Squad, offered the legislation as the House is set to consider police reform ...
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NYPD adds more cops to subway patrol amid transit violence surge as Cuomo urges Big Apple to ‘figure it out’
close Video NYPD arrests deadly 'subway slasher' NYC transit heads ask for more cops in subways following string of attacks. Hundreds of additional law enforcement officers have flooded the New York City subway system to protect straphangers amid a surge in violent crimes in transit – as Gov. Andrew Cuomo says it’s up to Big Apple officials to "figure it out." New York Police Department Chief of Transit Kathleen O’Reilly announced Tuesday the department would deploy more than 100 additional officers than previously planned, with 644 total cops being assigned to the subway system amid safety concerns following a terrifying string of attacks, officials said. "We are able to achieve this through overtime, deployment of officers normally assigned to administrative duties and re-assignment of other non-transit officers," she said during a Tuesday morning press conference, according to the New York Post . Police officials said earlier this week they would move 500 additional officers into the subway system. But transit heads argued it wasn’t enough and asked for 1,000 more. On Sunday, the NYPD arrested 21-year-old Rigoberto Lopez and charged him with three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder for his alleged slashing spree along the A-train subway line late Friday into Saturday. NYC JUDGE DROPS CHARGES AGAINST AMY COOPER, WOMAN IN CENTRAL PARK BIRD-WATCHER INCIDENT Lopez – dubbed the "A-Train Ripper" by the New York Post – is accused of fatally stabbing a man and a woman and wounding two other straphangers over the course of only hours. According to police, a man’s lifeless body was discovered in a subway car late Friday in Queens, with fatal knife wounds in his torso and neck. Approximately two hours later, 44-year-old Claudine Roberts was also found mortally stabbed in a train car in Manhattan. Lopez allegedly carried out two other non-fatal attacks on adult men in ...
NYC transit heads want triple the number of extra cops in subways after A-train rampage
close Video Fox News Flash Headlines February 14 The MTA is asking for 1,500 additional cops to be assigned to the city’s beleaguered transit system — triple the number the NYPD said it would send in by Monday. Police brass vowed Saturday to put at least 500 more cops in the system after a homeless man launched a random weekend slashing rampage that left two people dead and two guys wounded. "We believe the additional 500 officers you agreed to dedicate to the subway system is an important first step, which will help ease the fears of customers and heroic transit workers who serve this city every day," MTA Chairman Pat Foye and Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg said in an open letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Sunday. NYPD MAKE ARREST IN SUBWAY STABBING SPREE THAT UPPED PATROLS BY 500 OFFICERS "We believe more is needed, however, and so we are writing today to request an additional 1,000 NYPD officers be assigned to the Transit Bureau to patrol subways and buses immediately," Foye and Feinberg wrote. "We request teams of uniformed officers be assigned to every station and that officers ride the system throughout the day and during the overnight to ensure the safety of our customers and colleagues." CUOMO RENEWS CALL FOR NYPD FEDERAL MONITOR, CHALLENGES MAYORAL CANDIDATES ON POLICE REFORM The letter noted that there has been "a disturbing trend" in increasing assaults in the transit system despite an overall dip in city crime — even with a 70 percent drop in subway ridership and a 50 percent decline in city bus riders. "Assaults on our workers, from harassment and threats to physical violence, continue to occur far too often," Foye and Feinberg wrote. "Every single one of these occurrences is one too many." The bloody weekend slashings on the A Train line marked the latest in the recent rash of transit violence. Rigoberto Lopez, a ...
Judge limits courtroom to one George Floyd family member at a time during Chauvin trial
A judge ruled on Tuesday that only one member of George Floyd ’s family at a time will be allowed at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin , who is charged in his death. NBC News reports that Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said different members of Floyd’s family can rotate throughout the trial. The same rule applies to the family of Chauvin. Other rules require the attendants to the trial to abide by COVID-19 guidelines including social distancing and wearing masks, according to NBC. ADVERTISEMENT Floyd family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement that many of Floyd’s family members intended to witness the trial in the courtroom. “While they understand the judge’s reasons to limit attendance in the courtroom, the family is understandably disappointed by this ruling,” they said. “The family is looking forward to the start of the trial as a critical milestone on the path to justice and a step toward closure in this dark chapter of their lives.” Chauvin's trial on manslaughter and second-degree murder charges is set to begin Monday. In video of Floyd's May death that went viral and reignited the Black Lives Matter movement, the former officer can be seen kneeling on Floyd's neck as he repeatedly says, "I can't breathe." The three other officers involved in Floyd's death — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao — have been charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter and will be tried separately from Chauvin. They are set to be tried on Aug. 23. All four were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department soon after Floyd's death. The city of Minneapolis is beefing up security ahead of Chauvin's trial, with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Tim Walz Minneapolis beefs up security ahead of former officer's trial in George Floyd death Officials: Barr blocked officer plea deal in George Floyd death OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Biden EPA asks Justice Dept. to pause defense of ...
NYC judge drops charges against Amy Cooper, woman in Central Park bird-watcher incident
close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for February 16 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Criminal charges were formally dismissed Tuesday against Amy Cooper, the White woman captured in a viral video calling 911 on a Black bird-watcher in Central Park who asked her to put her dog on a leash last Memorial Day. Cooper, 40, received widespread condemnation and was fired from her job last year after she was seen telling a New York Police Department (NYPD) dispatcher over the phone that "an African American" male was threatening her and her dog inside the Central Park Ramble on May 25, 2020. Christian Cooper, an avid bird-watcher, had reportedly asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog and began recording their verbal dispute on his cell phone once she began dialing 911. AMY COOPER CHARGED FOR SECOND 911 CALL ON BLACK BORDWATCHER CLAIMING HE ASSAULTED HER: PROSECUTORS Amy Cooper repeated the accusation in a second call to police, adding that the man "tried to assault her." But when responding officers arrived, she admitted that the male had not tried to assault her or come into contact with her, prosecutors said. She was subsequently charged with filing a false police report, and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. described her conduct as "racist." In a hearing for the dismissal of the case that took less than 10 minutes on Tuesday, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzi presented to a judge that the district attorney's office had offered Amy Cooper a "restorative alternative" to facing charges for the incident in Central Park that included five therapy sessions. This file image made from May 25, 2020, video provided by Christian Cooper, shows Amy Cooper with her dog talking to Christian Cooper in Central Park in New York. Amy Cooper, walking her dog who called the police during a videotaped dispute with Christian Cooper, a Black man, was ...
