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[1/2] Desmond Mills Jr. with attorney Blake Ballin stand as five former Memphis police officers who have been charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols attend an arraignment hearing at Shelby County courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S., February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 1 (Reuters) - One of the five former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols has asked a U.S. District Court judge to change his plea of not guilty in the federal civil rights case, court records showed on Wednesday. The Daily Memphian, citing an interview with Ballin, said the plea would affect the state case against him. The officers also face a federal civil suit filed by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump on behalf of the family. The other officers charged in the case are Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean.

Persons: Desmond Mills Jr, Blake Ballin, Tyre Nichols, Karen Pulfer Focht, Black, Mark Norris, Mills, Nichols, whacked, Ballin, Ben Crump, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, cuffed, Daniel Trotta, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Memphis, REUTERS, U.S, of, Police, The Memphis Police Department, Memphis Fire Department, Thomson Locations: Shelby County, Memphis , Tennessee, U.S, Western, of Tennessee

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks to supporters in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. March 17, 2019. L3 Harris said on July 26 it was informed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would not block its $4.7 billion deal for Aerojet Rocketdyne. The letter was signed by Warren, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, as well as U.S. The lawmakers also requested correspondence between the Pentagon and the companies regarding potential conditions, including how they would be enforced. Reporting by Diane Bartz; additional reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Timothy GardnerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Elizabeth Warren, Karen Pulfer Focht, Lloyd Austin, Harris, Warren, L3Harris, William LaPlante, Representatives John Garamendi, Mark Pocan, Diane Bartz, Mike Stone, Timothy Gardner Organizations: Democratic, U.S, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, L3 Harris Technologies, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Aerojet, Pentagon, Federal Trade Commission, Senate Armed Services, Representatives, Defense Department, Thomson Locations: Memphis , Tennessee, U.S, Austin

"We're not endorsing what happened, but we do not believe that criminal charges are appropriate," Mulroy told reporters. An autopsy will be available soon and is expected to confirm that Nichols died of injuries from the beating, Mulroy added. Police video of the incident showed officers kicking, punching and beating Nichols with a baton on Jan. 7. Hemphill, along with those accused of murder and a seventh officer, were relieved of their duties by the Memphis Police Department. Prosecutors will not charge any other officer who arrived after the beating but are still investigating fire department staff, Mulroy said.

Unlike the chubby, fluffy image of her younger self, 22-year-old Ya Ya has appeared skinny in recent photos, with her black and white coat missing clumps of fur. But Le Le died suddenly of heart disease in early February, further fueling suspicions of mistreatment. Throughout the past weeks, Ya Ya regularly appeared as a top trending topic on Weibo, each time attracting hundreds of millions of views. Allegations of mistreatmentWhen Ya Ya and Le Le arrived at Memphis in 2003, it was a huge deal for the city. A petition by Panda Voices to bring Ya Ya and Le Le back to China on change.org has garnered 193,000 signatures.

☆ Opinion: Why expelling me from the legislature backfired on Tennessee Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Justin J. Pearson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Editor’s Note: Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson is a Democrat and former community activist in Memphis. And yet, calls for common sense gun reform measures fall on deaf ears in our legislature where a Republican supermajority is wildly out of step with most people’s values. People in Tennessee aren’t even required to purchase a permit to publicly carry guns in the state of Tennessee. And we are required by the Tennessee State Constitution to object to policies injurious to the well-being of our constituents. My constituents sent me to the Tennessee State House to continue this work in their name.

REUTERS/Karen Pulfer FochtApril 9 (Reuters) - Two Tennessee Democrats who were expelled from the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives last week over their participation in a gun control protest said on Sunday that they hoped to soon reclaim their seats. Metro Council Member Kevin Rhoten said on Twitter that he had been bombarded with emails since Thursday asking him to vote to appoint Justin Jones for the District 52 seat, and that he planned to do that. "I would be honored to accept the appointment of the Shelby County Commission and to run in a special election," Pearson told NBC on Sunday. Videos posted to Twitter showed the two Black lawmakers, Representatives Jones and Pearson, shouting through a bullhorn on the House floor, saying "No action, no peace!" Only two other Tennessee state representatives have been expelled by their colleagues since the Civil War era: one in 1980 for soliciting a bribe in exchange for blocking legislation and another in 2016 after being accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women.

REUTERS/Karen Pulfer FochtMarch 17 (Reuters) - The family of a Black man who died while in a Memphis jail on Friday called on authorities to identify the correctional officers involved in the altercation that killed him and to hold them accountable. Gershun Freeman, 33, died on Oct. 2 at the Shelby County, Tennessee, jail after being beaten by guards and held prone on the ground with a knee on his back for more than five minutes while handcuffed. More than five months after his death, the family is still seeking answers and justice, his mother, Kimberly Freeman, said at a press conference outside the county jail where her son was held. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, while the Shelby County District Attorney office handed the case over to the Nashville District Attorney Office to avoid a conflict of interest. Released earlier this month, 14 minutes of video show the violent altercation between jail guards and Freeman that ended with his death.

☆ Five former Memphis officers plead not guilty in beating death of Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Maria Alejandra Cardona | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Feb 17 (Reuters) - Five former Memphis police officers on Friday pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges stemming from last month's beating of Tyre Nichols, a Black man whose death three days later stirred outrage and fresh calls for reform. Police video captured images of the officers beating and kicking Nichols, hitting him with a baton, spraying him with pepper spray and firing a stun gun at him on Jan. 7 following a traffic stop. [1/3] Five former Memphis police officers who have been charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols appear during an arraignment hearing at Shelby County courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S., February 17, 2023. Two Shelby County sheriff's deputies who responded to the scene were suspended five days without pay. Officers on the video said Nichols had swerved through traffic dangerously, and one said Nichols attempted to grab his gun during the scrum.

☆ Mourners gather at Graceland for Lisa Marie Presley memorial
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign is seen as music fans pay their respect in memory of singer Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of the "King of Rock 'n' Roll," Elvis Presley, outside of Graceland, at her birthplace in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Pulfer FochtJan 22 (Reuters) - Mourners were heading to Graceland on Sunday morning to pay their respects to singer Lisa Marie Presley at the Memphis, Tennessee, mansion she inherited from her father, rock legend Elvis Presley. Presley died on Jan. 12 at the age of 54. Elvis Presley and other members of his family are buried at Graceland's Meditation Garden. After the burial, a public memorial service is scheduled to take place on the front lawn of Graceland at 9 a.m. CST (1500 GMT), followed by a procession past Lisa Marie Presley's grave.

☆ Summer heat and 'flash drought' dried up the Mississippi River, choking a crucial shipping corridor. It could devastate America's agricultural exports.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Drought has driven the Mississippi River to historic low levels, choking US agricultural exports. The Mississippi River basin produces about 92% of US agricultural exports, including 60% of US grain exports, which travel down the river to the Gulf to ship across the world. Coal is in high demand right now, Calhoun said, and the low water levels present a challenge to ship it out of the country. He said higher food prices at the grocery store are just the first way consumers will start feeling the impact of low water levels. A barge tow passes under the Mississippi River bridges in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on October 11, 2022.

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