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volume XXXvii, Number 34
People Are Talking Former Kanye West associate among 2 African Americans indicted with Fmr. Pres. Trump in Georgia
Trevian Kutti by Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire senior national correspondent Two prominent African Americans have found themselves in the middle of the unfolding legal drama surrounding former President Donald Trump. Harrison Floyd and Trevian Kutti are publicists who have turned suspects and stand among Trump’s 18 alleged co-conspirators in his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has hit both, along with Trump and others, with serious racketeering charges. Floyd led a Trump-founded group to bolster 2020 voter turnout for the MAGA Republican, while Kutti is a celebrity stylist and publicist best known for previously working with Kanye West. Floyd, also known as Willie Floyd, was the executive director of Black Voices for Trump and emerged as a key player in Trump’s 2020 campaign. According to Newsweek, Floyd’s role extended to the Trump campaign staff. The charges against Floyd include violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to solicit the dissemination of false statements and writings and attempts to influence witnesses. Floyd’s LinkedIn profile reflects a career spanning over 15 years, encompassing operations, crisis management, government affairs, and political campaigns. His experience stems from engagements on Capitol Hill, presidential campaigns, and collaboration with the Marines. Kutti, a seasoned publicist with Chicago roots, faces allegations of traveling to Atlanta to influence the testimony of Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman before the Georgia grand jury regarding allegations of election fraud. The indictment asserts that Floyd engaged Rev. Stephen Lee to orchestrate a meeting with Freeman and Kutti, ultimately pressuring Freeman’s testimony. The charges against Floyd, Kutti, and Lee span “conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings” and “influencing witnesses.” Trump now faces 91 felony charges that could result in the demagogue and GOP presidential front-runner serving more than 800 years in prison after being four times indicted, twice impeached, and already found guilty of sexual assault by a civil jury. Like Trump, Floyd, and Kutti have until noon on Aug. 25 to turn themselves into Fulton County Jail for processing. The Nashville PRIDE Newspaper is on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @pridenews
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August 25, 2023
Just days till 60th anniversary March on Washington by Hamil R. Harris (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Sixty years after the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and leaders of 60 different organizations will gather again at the Lincoln Memorial to finish the work that Civil Rights started decades ago. A coalition reaching across generations and races planned to reignite the ‘Dream’ that Dr. King articulated August 28, 1963. According to Rev. Al Sharpton, leaders from all walks of life are working together for a cause bigger than themselves. Rev. Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, said that August 26 will be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reaffirm our collective commitment to the fight for equality and justice.” The program will begin at 8 am and conclude at 1 pm when Martin Luther King III, Rev. Sharpton, and more than a dozen co-chairs of an event at the Lincoln Memorial will conclude several days of activities. The program will include performances, an interfaith ecumenical prayer service with national clergy, and speakers from civil rights, voting rights, gun violence, labor, youth, and other organizations. Martin Luther King III, chairman of the Drum Major Institute, said: “Despite the significant progress we have made over these six decades, we need to rededicate ourselves to the mission my dad gave his life for.” Melanie Campbell, president/CEO of the National Coalition of Voter Participation said that the event will conclude a week of activism in the
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech during the March on Washington. nation’s capital. will have yellow neon vests and be on “Many groups like the SCLC, the golf carts with ADA Shuttle near the National Black Women’s Roundtable, bus parking areas designated with will be meeting and it’s important that signs on each cart. the veterans of the 1963 March meet a People at the Lincoln Memorial new generation of leaders,” Campbell grounds who need more information said in an interview. “This is an oppor- about accessing an area to rest should tunity to use a historic moment to contact a volunteer with a yellow neon focus on the issues of today.” vest and volunteer badge for more Accommodations will be available information. for people with disabilities on a firstContinued on page 4 come, first-served basis. Volunteers
TN District Attorney drops multiple cases involving former officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death
Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Emmitt Martin, Justin Smith, and Demetrius Haley are the five officers, who were almost immediately arrested. by Stacy M. Brown, beating taken from officers’ body NNPA Newswire senior cameras, the national outcry grew national correspondent louder. The district attorney’s office in The episode added to an ongoing Tennessee has dismissed between 30% series of incidents between the police to 40% of the cases linked to five for- and the Black community, sparking mer officers facing second-degree protests and renewing discussions murder charges in the death of Tyre about police brutality and the need for Nichols. police reform in the United States. Shelby County District Attorney Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Steven Mulroy said his team had Emmitt Martin, Justin Smith and examined approximately 100 cases Demetrius Haley, are the five officers, involving the accused officers. who were almost immediately arrestHe noted that the team discovered ed. numerous decisions that could face They have pleaded not guilty to an reversal. array of criminal charges, including Mulroy’s spokesperson, Erica second-degree murder. Williams, said charges have already Authorities said the officers fatally been reduced in approximately 12 assaulted Nichols after a routine traffic other cases involving the ex-Memphis stop. Police officers, in addition to the disThe officers were part of the missed cases. Scorpion crime suppression team, a The district attorney forwarded unit now disbanded since Nichols’ four cases to the U.S. attorney’s office death. for alleged excessive force. While Memphis Police Chief According to Mulroy, the five offi- Cerelyn ‘C.J.’ Davis dissolved the cers’ blatant lack of credibility unit, some members joined other divithroughout the charges also were con- sions within the department. sidered in making these decisions. The Department of Justice recently The brutal beating of Nichols, 29, launched an investigation into the use captured national attention with civil of force and arrest practices within the rights advocates and others quickly Memphis Police Department. denouncing the officers’ actions. Continued on page 4 After the release of video of the
Democratic lawmakers introduce the Raise the Wage Act of 2023
Lawmakers noted that the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 would gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 by 2028. by Stacy M. Brown, Senior national correspondent NNPA Newswire – U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, have introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2023. The legislation would gradually increase the minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2028. Scott and Sanders said it would provide about 28 million Americans with a long-overdue raise. “No person working full-time in America should be living in poverty,” Scott stated. “Raising the minimum wage is good for workers, good for business, and good for the economy. When we put money in the pockets of American workers, they will spend that money in their communities.” Republican members of Congress have repeatedly stifled efforts to raise the minimum wage, with many claiming it Continued on page 4