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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Protests and vigils continue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and beyond, calling for justice for Jacob Blake, shot seven times in the back by police. And new details have emerged about a teenage vigilante shooter who killed two and injured a third at one of those protests this week.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump speaks on the final night of the Republican National Convention. And a new report details how much money his companies have skimmed from the US government during his time in office.

And lastly, the Christchurch mosque killer receives New Zealand’s maximum criminal penalty. Hear how a victim’s son delivered a righteous speech before the sentencing.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Our apologies: Yesterday we said Jacob Blake, the man shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, had been killed. He is in fact still alive, though paralyzed from the waist down. Yesterday the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Blake was handcuffed to his hospital bed when his father came to visit. It’s unclear what charges he faces, because police haven’t said. Blake’s father, also named Jacob, is scheduled to speak at the March on Washington today.

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about Kyle Rittenhouse, the seventeen-year-old shooter who attacked a crowd of protesters in Kenosha before fleeing to his home across the state line in Antioch, Illinois. Students at a high school Rittenhouse attended told Vice News he was shy but also aggressive, and some had him pegged for a future school shooter. He was active in a police cadet training program and reportedly idolized the police. And in addition to making common cause with a local right-wing militia, he was a big fan of Donald Trump. Buzzfeed News found a photo of Rittenhouse in the front row at a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in late January. Since his shooting, which killed two and wounded another, much of the Republican right has rallied around Rittenhouse, casting him as a hero who fought to protect property from rioters. The survivors of his victims have disputed that characterization in the strongest terms.

Those shot dead were victims Anthony Huber, age twenty-six, of Silver Lake; and Joseph “Jojo” Rosenbaum, thirty-six, of Kenosha. Gaige Grosskreutz, twenty-six, of West Allis, was shot in the arm and is expected to recover, according to the Sun-Times. Per the Chicago Tribune, Huber had confronted Rittenhouse, who was carrying an assault rifle, using only his skateboard. A GoFundMe created by his family said QUOTE He was fighting for a cause, and he wasn’t a rioter – he was a protester and a defender ENDQUOTE. Law enforcement and National Guard were out in an attempt to enforce curfews again last night, not only in Kenosha but also in Minneapolis, where protests are ongoing.

Finally, police in Kenosha named the officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back while holding his shirt as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the department. The local district attorney will decide whether to file charges against the officer next month after the state Justice Department releases its report.

Trump calls Biden... extreme?

Yesterday the New York Times reported that for the second time in thirty days, the Trump campaign pulled all its broadcast ads from circulation. The campaign has no new ads scheduled until September 8. That’s two weeks with no ads on television and fewer than seventy days until the election. Something isn’t quite clicking for the Republicans. On night three of the Republican National Convention, headliner Mike Pence brought the lowest ratings yet. And last night, Donald Trump himself delivered the convention keynote from the White House. According to prepared remarks obtained by the Associated Press, Trump cast his super-centrist opponent, Joe Biden, as some kind of flaming radical. And he blamed the violence in Kenosha and elsewhere on the local Democratic leadership.

Separately, the Washington Post reported that the Trump Organization has bilked taxpayers for at least nine hundred thousand dollars since he took office, much of it through booking feels at Trump hotels and resorts. The Secret Service is obliged to follow Trump wherever he goes, which means that when he stays at a Trump hotel, agents must book rooms there. Trump has now visited his own hotels two hundred and seventy-one times as president. Sometimes the charges to the Secret Service seemed not only exorbitant but straight-up bogus, such as a bill for furniture removal from a room totaling thirteen hundred dollars plus tax. In response to the Post’s reporting, a White House spokesman warned that they were

building up a very large dossier on the reporter, David Farenthold. We’re sure he’s quaking in his shoes.

Christchurch mosque shooter sentenced

A judge in New Zealand yesterday sentenced Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who killed fifty-one people at two mosques in a terrorist attack last year, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was the maximum sentence allowed by law and the first time it has been imposed in the country’s history. According to the Associated Press, Judge Cameron Mander said Tarrant's crimes were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. Tarrant, twenty-nine, is an Austrailian citizen.

Ahad Nabi, the son of a shooting victim, also had words for the killer. In an appeal to the judge shared widely on social media, Nabi endorsed the sentence of life without parole. He called the killer a maggot who had inadvertently made his father a martyr. Nabi said, in part, QUOTE You shot at defenseless people that were not aware of what was going on until they knew it was too late. Your actions were gutless... You deserve to be buried in a landfill. This world was created with color. A peasant like you will never change the human race. Your wish is to make this world a racist cult of one color. But you will never succeed... I would like to say that my seventy-one year old dad would have broke you in half if you challenged him to a fight. But you are weak. A sheep with a wolf’s jacket on, for only ten minutes of your whole life. I am strong, and you made me even stronger ENDQUOTE. And with that, Nabi flipped the killer off with both hands.

And now for some Quicker Quickies.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Hurricane Laura flattened buildings and trees along the Gulf Coast and kicked off a large chemical fire over Lake Charles, Louisiana, when it made landfall. Laura continues to move north toward Arkansas and has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Four deaths were reported in Louisiana and none in Texas. The verdict from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards: it could have been a lot worse. Indeed, the storm also knocked over a Confederate statue in Lake Charles, only days after parish officials voted to leave it standing.

A new analysis in the British Medical Journal found that six feet of social distancing may be insufficient protection against the coronavirus, especially in poorly ventilated indoor settings. Public health experts quoted by the Washington Post say six feet of social distance should be regarded as a starting point, not a strict guidance. The only thing close to a silver bullet, researchers say, is a distanced gathering outdoors where everyone is wearing well- fitted masks. Got that? Mask up and be mindful of how the air is flowing.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin has said he is willing to provide military or police assistance to help the ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko (LUKE-UH-SHEN-KOH), remain in power. Lukashenko, recently seen carrying an assault rifle after deboarding a helicopter, has ordered amid mass arrests of protesters after elections the European Union refuses to recognize as legitimate. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki (MAT-EH-USH MORA-VESHKY), urged Russia to cease any plans for military intervention in Belarus, calling it a hostile act in violation of international law.

The British artist Banksy has used some of his wealth to finance a boat that is patrolling the Mediterranean to rescue refugees lost at sea. The Guardian reports that the boat, named Louise Michel after a French feminist anarchist, rescued eighty-nine people in distress yesterday, including fourteen women and four children. At last report the Louise Michel was looking for a safe port to let the refugees disembark.

Aug 28, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn