NEWS 1
dailygamecock.com UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
VOL. 107, NO. 45 ● SINCE 1908
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016
PRIDE OR PREJUDICE? Secessionists to rally behind Confederate flag
T. Michael Boddie
@THEHUMANBODDIE
The Sout h Carolina Secessionist Party will rally behind the Confederate flag on July 10, one year after the battle flag’s removal from the top of the State House. The members of the party will raise the f lag on State House grounds, protesting its removal from government property and remembering the Civil War soldiers who f lew it . G over nor Ni k k i Haley proposed that the flag be taken down after a white supremacist, sport ing t he flag, allegedly shot and killed nine parishioners in a historic Charleston church. The Secessionist Part y protested the decision and a r e s c h e d u le d t o d o s o again with the Civil War f lag hoisted up on 25-foot pole. Accord i ng to t heir reser vat ions for Su nday, a n e st i mated 150 to 30 0 people will be in attendance. In addition, party founder James Bessenger is inviting sece s sion ist s f rom ot her states. “O u r t reacherous st ate legislature voted to remove it w it hout t he consent of the people in our state,” the Party said in an invitation to the rally. “We, however, owe this opportunit y to them.
Courtesy of MCT Campus
The South Carolina Highway Patrol Honor Guard removes the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds during a ceremony on July 10, 2015. Without their poor judgment a nd lack of i nteg r it y, we would not have this cause.” Should weat her permit, the flag raising rally will be held at 11 a.m. A Confederate Memor i a l Honor G u a rd w il l appea r at 9 a.m. to honor Sout h Carolin ia ns who fought and died for the Confederacy and will help the SCSP raise their flag. “The same flag, the same place, t he same day,” t he
Councilman’s 911 call released T. Michael Boddie
@THEHUMANBODDIE
Columbia Cit y Councilman Moe Baddourah, who also hold s a p o s it io n o n U S C ’s f a c u l t y a n d is the director of the McCutchen House, was arrested Saturday and charged with criminal domest ic v iolence in the second degree. T he 53-ye a r - old turned himself in, and the charges are for an incident that reportedly occurred Wednesday even i ng out side of Rock away At h let ic Club restaurant. Baddourah is accused of slamming his wife’s leg in a car door during an altercat ion over a child custody exchange. Baddourah denies the acc usat ions. He says that his wife snatched his phone and he made an effort to get it back f rom her before she could lock it away in the car. Aut hor it ies have released the phone call Baddourah made to a 911 dispatcher just after the incident. He told the dispatcher that his wife, Carrie, had tried to steal his phone. “She to ok my cel l phone a nd she t r ied to take it away, but I
followed her and I got it back ,” Baddou r a h said. He sa id t hat h is w ife took h is phone and tried to run away with it, but she stopped when she realized that she did not have their children with her. “I’ve got my phone back but I just, I think, she was t r y ing to do something not good,” B addou r a h t old t he dispatcher. “I have to be hone st w it h you , but that’s why I wanted to report it and I want an incident report. I don’t want it to come back a nd she star t lying about what really happened.” Baddourah also explained that he and his wife are going t hrough a divorce and that the incident occurred during a child custody exchange. “A n d t h i s a l l h a d happened in f ront of the children, which is not good,” Baddourah said. Baddourah’s sisterin-law also dialed 911 to report the incident. She said she had witnessed Baddourah assaulting her sister and “felt the need to report it,” but Baddourah denies the accusations.
S C SP s a id o n Fac eb o ok in their description of the upcom ing event. “Fellow Southerners from across the Southern States will stand together in solidarit y and defen se of what we hold sacred.” The page also indicates t h at t here w i l l b e g ue st s p e a k er s a nd l i ve mu s ic from David Koons and the Koyotes. A week fol low i ng t he
remova l of t he f lag, t he State House was visited by members of t he Ku K lu x K lan as well as t he Black Panther Party. The groups’ respective rallies conflicted and escalated to necessitate police response. Five people were arrested, according to The State. T he g roups repor ted ly plan to attend Sunday’s rally, and lawmakers are working to prevent them from doing
so at the same time in order to prevent a repeat of the chaos. “I happen to feel you can protect and defend the First Amendment and the public at the same time,” state Sen. Har vey Peeler said. “The person who schedules a KKK rally and Black Panthers rally on the State House grounds at t he sa me t i me ha s no SEERALLYPAGE2
FBI recommends no charges for Clinton
Courtesy of MCT Campus
Criticism followed the FBI’s decision not to charge Hillary Clinton for sharing classified information via email.
Ben Turner
@BENTURNER15
FBI Director James Comey announced Tuesday morning t he agency will recommend Hillary Clinton face no criminal charges for her use of a private email account to send classified materials while secretary of state. “A lt h o u g h t h e Department of Justice makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case,” Comey said at a press conference. The Clinton campaign expressed its satisfaction with the Department of Justice’s decision to not pursue any legal action. “As the Secretary has
long said, it was a mistake t o u s e he r p e r s o n a l email and she would not do it again,” campaign spokesman Brian Fallon sa id i n a st atement Tuesday. “We are glad that this matter is now resolved.” However, Comey did not absolve Clinton of wrongdoing completely. “A l t h o u g h t h e r e i s ev idence of potent ial violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgement is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” he said. Comey also criticized Clinton sharply from the podium. “Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to
violate laws governing the handling of classified informat ion, t here is evidence that they were ext remely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information,” he said. T he F BI d i rec tor cited past investigations as precedent when discussing the decision not to bring charges. “In looking back at our investigations into the mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts,” Comey said. The decision was immediately criticized by businessman Donald Tr u m p , C l i n t o n’s expected opponent in the November general election. “The system is
rigged,” Trump tweeted. “General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very ver y unfair! As usual, bad judgment.” David Petraeus pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor charges of mishandling classified information while he was head of the CIA. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also voiced displeasure with the FBI Tuesday. “ W h i le I respect t he law en forcement professionals at the FBI, this announcement defies explanation,” Ryan said in a statement. “No one should be above the law.” Comey defended t he i nve s t ig at io n a s impartial during his press conference. “What I can assu re t he A mer ica n people is t hat t h is investigation was done honestly, competently a nd i nde p e nde nt l y,” he sa id. “No out side influence of any kind was brought to bare.” Questions were raised a f t er a me e t i n g l a s t week between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Hillar y Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton. Lynch express regret for the meeting and stressed that she would accept the FBI’s recommendations, SEECLINTONPAGE2