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AMERICAN
“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -Emerson
NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties Volume 51 No. 10 Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92383
Office: (909) 889-7677
June 25, 2020 - July 02, 2020 Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com
Website: www.SB-American.com
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or words orwith both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurancethose of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Security guard allegedly used racial slur while attempting to tase man walking thru Costco parking lot By VictorValleyNews
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (VVNG.com) — A private security guard patrolling the Victorville Costco is under fire after he allegedly attempted to tase a man as he yelled a racial slur at him for simply walking through the parking lot, officials said. It happened just before 7:00 AM on Monday, June 15, 2020, in the
14600 block of Valley Center Drive. Sheriff’s officials said the victim, a 23-year-old Black male was walking through the Costco parking lot, on his way to a bus stop when he was followed by security. According to a news release, The suspect, David Miller, a private security guard, followed the victim and yelled for him
to get out of the parking lot. “The victim told Miller he was on his way to the bus stop and Miller got out of his vehicle and pulled his stun gun. He fired at the victim, telling him he was going to kill him and using a racial slur,” stated the release Officials said the victim was not hit by the stun gun and
proceeded to the bus stop area. Deputies conducted interviews with the victim, suspect, and witnesses at the location. Miller was arrested and booked at High Desert Detention Center for Violating Civil Rights by Force or Threat, Assault with a Stun Gun, and Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective S. Andersen at the Victorville Police Department at (760) 241-2911 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at (760) 956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463) or you may leave information on the WeTip website at www.wetip.com. To follow updates to this article and more, Join our newsgroup on Facebook with over 140,000 members, Like our Facebook page, and Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Video shows Malcolm Harsch of Victorville was not lynched, but hanged himself By BRIAN ROKOS | brokos@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
Malcolm Harsch A Black man whose hanging death in Victorville on May 31 prompted concerns that he had been lynched actually died by suicide, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Friday, June 19. Sheriff’s officials played for reporters a video from a nearby vacant building that showed Malcolm Harsch, 38, wrapping a blue electronics cable around his neck, tying the ends to a tree limb and then letting himself fall. The tree, rustling for several minutes before it became still, was adjacent to the tents where he and a former girlfriend lived. Harsch had been on suicide watch in two of his recent bookings in San Bernardino County jails on suspicion of minor
crimes, Sgt. Steve Allen said. Then just past dawn May 31, Allen said, Harsch and his girlfriend broke up amid mutual allegations of infidelity. They argued, and the video showed Harsch throwing donuts at her tent. Minutes later, with the woman still in her tent and another transient apparently watching, Harsch hanged himself just after 6 a.m. No one summoned help for Harsch until just after 7 a.m., when the woman emerged from the tent, grabbed a man’s phone and called 911, Allen said. Harsch’s brother, Ft. Irwin soldier D’Avery Richardson, viewed the video at the Victorville sheriff’s station Thursday and showed it via Zoom to his two sisters in Ohio, Allen said.
A spokesman for the family issued a statement on Friday. “On behalf of the family of Malcolm Harsch unfortunately it seems he did take his own life,” said the spokesman, Najee Ali. “The Victorville Police Department officials released new video evidence to family members,” Ali said. “The family wants to sincerely thank everyone for their support and prayers.” Authorities initially said no foul play was suspected in Harsch’s death. But family members and others were skeptical. Roughly 200 people gathered outside Victorville City Hall on Tuesday to demand a thorough investigation and police accountability for using deadly force in other cases. Harsch’s death came a week before another Black man, Robert Fuller, was found dead near Poncitlán Square, just east of Palmdale City Hall. Fuller’s death was also a hanging and was initially described by officials as a suspected suicide. Coroner’s investigators have yet to rule on a final cause of death pending the investigation and toxicology results. In a news conference on Monday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there wasn’t any evidence the
deaths were linked, but that his detectives would talk with San Bernardino County detectives. The investigations into what some people worry were lynchings came amid protests nationwide about racial and social justice after the May 25 death of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody. The four officers involved in the arrest were fired and charged with crimes. T he coroner’s off icial f inding of the cause of Harsch’s death is pending the results of a toxicology test. Allen said investigators planned to do a large-scale probe even if protesters had not demanded one because there were reports of blood on Harsch’s shirt. Those turned out to be spots of his own blood, Allen said a DNA test confirmed. Also, Allen said, the Sheriff’s Department does not normally share so much information about a suicide, but did so in this case because of public concerns. “What I’m trying to prevent is any violent protests in the name of Malcolm,” he said.
Who would get a second stimulus check — and who wouldn't? -- By Aimee Picchi A recent Census Bureau survey shows that nearly half of U.S. households have taken a painful hit to their pocketbook during the steep recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, spurring calls for the federal government to offer Americans more direct financial assistance. While it's unclear whether Congress will approve a second stimulus check anytime soon, lawmakers are at least considering opening the spigot. The proposed $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or HEROES, Act would authorize another batch of stimulus payments for most households. The bill passed the House in May and now awaits debate in the Senate. Adding to the political momentum for more stimulus money, Trump administration officials earlier this month said they are considering a second round of funding. The first round of stimulus checks, directed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act in March, faced criticism from advocacy groups and taxpayers alike on its exclusion of some Americans. For instance, the initial round of stimulus payments provided $500 for each child under the age of 17 — that meant millions of high school seniors and juniors who are 17 or older didn't qualify for the payments. The Trump administration is facing lawsuits over the bill's exclusion of some immigrants and their American spouses from the payments. Overall, most Americans would get more money in a second stimulus under the HEROES Act, according to the rightleaning American Enterprise Institute. Its analysis found that the average household would receive $2,170, compared with $1,729 for the first stimulus checks. The reason for the sweetened payments: An increase in the number and size of payments for children and dependents, many of whom were excluded from the first round of stimulus payments. Here's who would be eligible for a stimulus check under the HEROES Act: Lowand middleincome households HEROES sets the same income limits to get a check as the CARES Act. That means most high-income households wouldn't see a payment unless they have children or dependents who qualify for one. Single taxpayers with maximum adjusted gross income of $75,000 would be eligible for a second stimulus check, along with married couples with total household
income of no more than $150,000 and who file their taxes jointly. Above that limit, the payment would be reduced until phasing out completely above $98,000 for single taxpayers and $199,000 for married taxpayers. Chi ldren, including 17- a n d 18 -ye a r - o l d s Parents of older teens may be happy to learn that the HEROES Act directs additional payments of $1,200 for each child in the family, up to three children. The first stimulus check was less generous when it came to providing support for families with children. Under CARES, eligible families got $500 for each child, but only for kids who hadn't yet turned 17. That's because the bill relied on the definition of a qualifying child for the Child Tax Credit, which cuts off once he or she turns 17. College students College students who are claimed as dependents on their parents' taxes would qualify for a $1,200 payment under the HEROES Act. That's more generous than the first stimulus round, which excluded adults claimed as dependents on other taxpayers' returns. That included many college students who may be adults in the eyes of the law, but who are still claimed as dependents on their parents' tax returns. That angered many families, who pointed out that numerous college kids suffered lost income and higher costs — such as moving quickly off campus when universities shut down — due to the pandemic. Americans married to immigrants Unlike u nder CA R ES, the HEROES Act would provide a stimulus check to American citizens who are married to immigrants without a Social Security number. In the first round, they were blocked from receiving the payments, an issue that sparked at least two lawsuits on grounds of discrimination. That's because CARES required both spouses to have Social Security numbers, while critics noted that immigrants without a Green Card often use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to file taxes. On top of that, because HEROES directs payments to tax filers with a valid tax ID number, rather than a Social Security number, more resident aliens may qualify for the payments, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Who wouldn't get payments? continued on page 2