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Viola Ford Fletcher, who as one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child, has died. She was 111.

Her grandson Ike Howard said on Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during the second world war and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper.

Tulsa’s mayor, Monroe Nichols, said the city was mourning her loss. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose,” he said in a statement.

She was seven years old when the two-day attack began on Tulsa’s Greenwood district on 31 May 1921 after a local newspaper published a sensationalized report about a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. As a white mob grew outside the courthouse, Black Tulsans with guns who hoped to prevent the man’s lynching began showing up. White residents responded with overwhelming force. Hundreds of people were killed and homes were burned and looted, leaving about 35 city blocks decimated in the prosperous community known as Black Wall Street.

“I could never forget the charred remains of our once-thriving community, the smoke billowing in the air, and the terror-stricken faces of my neighbors,” she wrote in her 2023 memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.

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Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.

No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.

Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers and the FBI.

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Arizona’s two Democratic senators said they won’t be intimidated by the Trump administration after the Pentagon announced on Monday an investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) over a video he recorded calling on the military to disobey illegal orders.

“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly, a U.S. Navy veteran, wrote in a post online. “I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator before going on to serve as an astronaut. He received numerous military awards and retired at the rank of captain.

The Pentagon’s statement, which was posted on social media, cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other measures.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) reacted more bluntly to the news of the Pentagon investigation into his Democratic colleague.

“This is fucking insane. We should all point out how fucking insane this is,” Gallego said in a video he posted online on Monday.

“Mark Kelly is a patriot. He’s just doing his duty to remind people of their rights as service members,” he added. “Secretary Hegseth, all these guys ― fuck you guys, you’re not going to be able to scare us.”

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U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin's office said Michigan State Police responded to a bomb threat at her home on Nov. 21, a day after President Donald Trump called her and other Democrats traitors for putting out a video message to members of the military telling them it's their right and duty to disobey illegal orders.

A message posted on social media platform X by a spokesperson for Slotkin, D-Michigan, said the senator wasn't at her home in Holly, Michigan at the time of the threat. State Police searched the premises "and confirmed no one was in danger," the message said.

Slotkin's office didn't provide further details about the threat or Slotkin's whereabouts but referred questions to Michigan State Police, who didn't immediately respond to calls and emails from the Free Press. The social media message added, "U.S. Capitol Police will continue to investigate and hopefully hold accountable those responsible."

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The United States Naval Academy fired the commandant of midshipmen, Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr., on Monday due to a “loss of confidence in his ability to effectively lead” the brigade, removing him than his position less than half a year after he assumed the post.

Clark, who assumed the role in June, was axed by Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte.“The naval service maintains the highest standards for leaders and holds them accountable when those standards are not met,” the Naval Academy said Monday.

For now, Clark will be succeeded by Capt. Austin Jackson, currently a deputy commandant of midshipmen, as an interim commandant. 

The school did not provide further details about the reason for the dismissal. The U.S. Navy commonly references “loss of confidence” when firing senior leaders.

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A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie halt at least for now a pair of prosecutions that had targeted two of the president’s most high-profile political opponents and amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration’s legal maneuvering to install an inexperienced and loyalist prosecutor willing to file cases.

The orders do not concern the substance of the allegations against Comey or James but instead deal with the unconventional manner in which the prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was named to her position as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Defense lawyers said the Trump administration had no legal authority to make the appointment. In a pair of similar rulings, Currie agreed and said the invalid appointment required the dismissal of the cases.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials reiterated their intention to block future Palestinian statehood ahead of the United Nations Security Council vote to authorize the U.S. plan for post-war Gaza on Monday.

There are three remaining deceased hostages in Gaza. Israeli authorities have been releasing the bodies of Palestinians in exchange for the return of hostage remains.

The ceasefire is broadly holding in Gaza, with Israeli forces inside the strip having pulled back to the so-called "yellow line." Still, renewed Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians in the past week.

Elsewhere, Israel is continuing strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and on Sunday launched an airstrike in the capital Beirut. The Israel Defense Forces is also continuing raids in parts of the occupied West Bank.

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As a gerontologist who has helped countless older adulhttps://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5617927-congress-medicare-reform-dangers/ts navigate the Medicare maze, I’ve seen how one enrollment decision can shape someone’s quality of life for decades. That’s why the new legislation before Congress, H.R. 3467, should alarm anyone who cares about protecting older Americans’ health and autonomy. 

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and introduced in May, would automatically enroll new Medicare beneficiaries into the lowest-premium Medicare Advantage plan available in their ZIP code unless they actively opt out. Even more troubling, it would lock them into that plan for three full years, limiting their ability to switch back to traditional Medicare or select a new plan except under narrowly defined hardship circumstances.

At first glance, “auto-enrollment” sounds efficient, with fewer decisions to make at a confusing time. But when you dig deeper, this proposal removes freedom rather than simplifying a decision. Many would find themselves stuck in private insurance plans they never chose, possibly unable to access trusted doctors, specialists or hospitals outside their network. 

Older Americans are far from a uniform group. Their health, medications and financial circumstances vary dramatically. Yet H.R. 3467 assumes everyone will benefit from being placed in the cheapest available plan.

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