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Magic Johnson Offers $100 Million in Loans to Minority Businesses Left Behind by the Government

The federal government’s response to COVID-19 has been a mess from top to bottom, including the “you’re on your own” approach it’s taken towards black people who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

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Michael Jordan’s Signature 1985 Nike Air Jordans Auctioned for a Record-Breaking $560,000

Even after retiring from professional basketball 17 years ago, NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is still setting records.

Sotheby’s announced that Jordan’s first edition of his 1985 Nike Air Jordan sneakers has been sold for a record-breaking $560,000. The Game-worn autographed Nike Air Jordan 1s set the world auction record for a pair of sneakers. The previous record set at Sotheby’s for the Nike 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat ‘Moon Shoe’ sold for $437,500 in July 2019. The footwear sharply exceeded more than 3.5 times the $150,000 estimate.

“Building off the momentum from our debut sneaker sale last year, which previously set the record for a pair of sneakers with the Nike Moon Shoe, we wanted to set the bar even higher for our second sneaker sale,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s director of eCommerce Development, in a written statement. “We saw tremendous bidding up until the moment the sale closed, with the value more than doubling in the final hour alone. That coupled with strong international bidding from six countries on four continents shows not only the incredible appeal of Michael Jordan as one of the most recognizable and legendary athletes of all time but also that sneaker collecting is truly a global and growing market.”

During the final 20 minutes of the auction, the bidding war drove the value up by $300,000. Bidders had ranged from the age of 19 to over 50 who participated across four continents, with 70% of bidders new to Sotheby’s.

The immensely popular sneaker was so successful that Nike continued to make new signature Air Jordans each season. Even today, fans and sneakerheads around the world still flood stores and online retailers upon the release of new Air Jordans as well as reissues of previously released Air Jordans.

The allure of Jordan has been on display lately due to the much-talked-about and highly rated sports documentary, The Last Dance, that has been airing on ESPN for the past several weeks. The docu-series, which chronicles how Jordan led the Chicago Bulls’ quest to win a sixth NBA championship, also set a record, becoming the most viewed program in ESPN history after the two premiere episodes averaged 6.1 million viewers.

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2 Kansas City officers charged with assault of Black trans woman

Two Kansas City police offers were charged with assault on Friday, May 15, nearly one year after they were seen on video violently arresting a Black transgender woman.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s office announced that Charles Prichard, 47, and Matthew Brummett, 37, would be charged with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault for “recklessly causing physical pain” to Brianna Hill, 30.

In the video, which went viral in May 2019, Prichard and Brummett can be seen slamming Hill’s face into the concrete sidewalk, pressing their knees into her back, ribs and face, and forcing her arms above her head while handcuffed.

Hill was arrested at the scene and cited for several offenses including trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

READ MORE: Breonna Taylor police shooting gets special prosecutor

An internal police investigation found the two officers innocent of any wrongdoing, but local prosecutors presented the case in front a grand jury who chose to charge the men.

“This case is particularly disappointing that my office was prevented from filing the charge independent of a Grand Jury,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement. “Several years ago, my office shifted our policy so we only engaged the grand jury on cases where a credibility determination must be made. This policy change was in the interest of greater transparency because state law shrouds grand jury proceedings in secrecy.”

The Fraternal Order of Police criticized the prosecutor’s office in a statement of their own on Friday.

“The FOP is aware of the unjustified misdemeanor charges filed against two exemplary police officers of the Kansas City Police Department,” the FOP’s press release read. “This is yet another example of the politically motivated prosecution that is unfortunately becoming all too common place across our country.”

READ MORE: Indianapolis police fatally shoot Sean Reed, 21, during Facebook Live

Sadly, Hill was killed in October 2019 after being fatally shot at a home in Kansas City. The alleged shooter has since been charged, the prosecutor’s office announced in a press release.

Prichard and Brummett have been placed on “administrative assignment” pending the outcome of the case, according to the Associated Press.

The post 2 Kansas City officers charged with assault of Black trans woman appeared first on TheGrio.

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Multiple people trespassed at home Ahmaud Arbery visited, videos show

CNN obtained 11 surveillance clips from the attorney of the homeowner whose house is at the center of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.

J. Elizabeth Graddy, the attorney for homeowner Larry English, sent the news network videos spanning from October 2019 to February 2020, and it appears that Arbery was not the only “trespasser” on the property.

READ MORE: Murder suspect leaked Ahmaud Arbery shooting video to clear up neighborhood rumors

Eight of the clips that were shared were dated, while three were not.

One of the videos showed what appeared to be a white couple, a man and a woman. Two other videos showed children entering the property.

NEW VIDEO shows there were frequent visitors on the construction site where Ahmaud was seen leaving on the day he was killed both day & night. Ahmaud Arbery seems to be the only one who was presumed to be a criminal and ultimately the only one murdered based on that presumption. pic.twitter.com/8tTwKPsck0

— S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) May 15, 2020

English lives more than two hours away from the property and asked people local to the community to occasionally check in on house sporadically. He and his wife purchased it as a waterfront retirement home and were planning to move in when it was completed. The house was under construction down to the studs and was open. 

According to the report, seven of the clips show a lone Black male walking around the house. The last clip, dated Feb. 23, is the only video that has been definitively identified as Arbery. The video was only moments before he was confronted by Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael who shot and killed him. 

In a statement to CNN, Graddy said the man in the February 11 video appears to be the same man filmed in the house last fall and on December 17. She said the man may have come into the house for water, adding there are water sources both behind the house and in front of it. In the December 17 footage, the man is seen wiping his mouth and “what sounds like water can be heard” before he jogs away, the attorney says. 

READ MORE: Georgia bill would allow voters to disband police department at center of Ahmaud Arbery case

English has repeatedly said nothing was taken from his home. 

His attorney also recently released a text message from a Glynn County police officer who told English that he could reach out to Gregory McMichael for assistance with trespassers on his property. 

S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s family, sent an email statement to CNN which read, “I have chosen to stop questioning the grieving family of Ahmaud Arbery about images from the cameras mounted at the construction site of Larry English as Mr. English himself has said no criminal activity ever took place there and it is clear that Ahmaud was on the premises in the past along with many other people.” 

The post Multiple people trespassed at home Ahmaud Arbery visited, videos show appeared first on TheGrio.

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