Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

FAMU Hazing Death Defendants Plead "Not Guilty" to Manslaughter

There are new developments in the case of Robert Champion, the 26-year-old Florida A&M University drum major who died in November 2011 after a vicious hazing from fellow band members. Champion was gay.

More than a dozen former band members pleaded "not guilty" on Friday to charges of manslaughter in connection with the case, reports the AP and the Orlando Sentinel.

Circuit Judge Marc Lubet, who has presided over the cases against 14 former members of Florida A & M University's celebrated marching band ... set Aug. 2 as his deadline for defendants to accept the state's plea deals – or face a trial.

Most of the defendants had pleaded not guilty last year to felony hazing, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. But prosecutors added two defendants, Darryl Cearnel and Henry "Snacks" Nesbitt, and upgraded the potential risk to ex-band members last month adding a charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.

Two former band members have pleaded no-contest to third-degree felony hazing. A third is expected to plead guilty later this month and has agreed to "testify truthfully in the cases of his co-defendants." A fourth co-defendant has provided an eyewitness account of Champion's brutal death, which allegedly included being kicked, punched and hit with traffic cones.

Florida A&M University is the state's only public, historically black university. The Tallahassee-based university was founded in 1887 "and it is the largest historically black university in the United States by enrollment," according to its Wiki.

FAMU is well-known for its Marching "100" Band—which has a long history of violent hazing incidents. Investigators learned in May 2012 that more than 100 members of the marching band were NOT registered students. That included at least three of the 11 band members initially charged with felony hazing.

Champion's parents publicly revealed in January 2012  that their son was gay. In addition to being vocally opposed to hazing, Champion's sexuality could have been among the reasons why he was viciously beaten during the attack, according to the family's attorney. Read more at  my article for Ebony: "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell": Why Has Black Media Ignored the Sexuality of FAMU Hazing Victim Robert Champion?"

You May Have Missed:
Why Has Black Media Ignored Sexuality of RChampion? [EBONY]
FAMU Defendant Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter
12 Charged with Manslaughter in FAMU Hazing Death
Band Members Claim Robert Champion Agreed to Hazing
3 FAMU Band Members Charged in Death Are NOT Students
Band Members Describe Using a "Big Traffic Cone"
Final Felony Suspect Surrenders in Hazing Death
10 Arrested in FAMU Hazing Death
8 Suspects Arrested in FAMU Hazing Death
13 Face Criminal Charges in FAMU Hazing Death
Multiple Charges Expected in FAMU Hazing Death
Prosecutors Review Champion's FAMU Hazing Death
2 FAMU Music Professors Involved in Band Hazing
Still No Charges in Champion's Death
FAMU Student's Sexuality Lead to Hazing Death?
Police Arrest 3 FAMU Students After Brutal Hazing
Investigators Uncover Misconduct in Hazing Death
Champion Lawsuit Reveals Hazing Details

NYS Sen. Malcolm Smith Charged in Scheme to Fix Election

Very disappointing news from New York City. Democratic New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith has been arrested and charged in a federal corruption case, report the New York Times and the Daily News. Smith became the state's first Black Senate Majority Leader and President in January 2009.

Smith, Republican NYC Councilman Daniel Halloran (Queens) and four others have been charged with trying to fix the 2013 mayoral election by buying Smith a spot on the Republican ballot. The others suspects include the Bronx Republican Chairman and Queens Republican vice chairman.

Mr. Smith, according to the complaint, agreed with a cooperating witness and an undercover F.B.I. agent, who was masquerading as a wealthy real estate developer, to pay off leaders of Republican county committees in New York’s five boroughs. The bribes were to be paid to obtain specific certificates authorizing him to run for mayor as a Republican even though he was a registered Democrat. The undercover agent and the cooperating witness served as intermediaries between the senator and Mr. Halloran, the complaint said. ...

Smith became the state's first Black Senate Majority Leader in 2009. This was after the Democrats took control of the chamber after 40 years in the minority. Smith managed a narrow, two-vote victory to become Senate majority leader after one member of his caucus, the rabidly anti-gay Reverend Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, threatened to jump ship because of his well-publicized opposition to gays and marriage equality.

Some gay activists accused Smith of delaying a marriage vote—even though he had publicized his support and attended fundraisers—but he maintained that the bill would only reach the floor when he had sufficient votes for passage. Smith was removed as majority leader in a June 2009 coup.

The vote failed spectacularly when the Senate took it up for the first time in December 2009. The vote was 38-24, with 8 Democrats joining the entire GOP caucus to oppose the bill.

The New York Senate later passed the historic marriage equality bill on June 24 2011 by a 33-29 vote. The lone Democratic holdout: Ruben Diaz Sr., the rabidly anti-gay Bronx Democratic Pentecostal pastor who has a  lesbian granddaughter.

LISTEN: Voice of Russia on Chicago School Closures and Violence

Once again I'm wearing yet another hat: Analyst for the Voice of Russia, the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service. Recorded a segment Friday on the racial politics of Chicago school closures and the surge in gun violence among the city's Black and Latino youth. Listen HERE.

Read my two recent reports for EBONY: "Chicago's Black Students Face Massive School Closures" and "Black Students Overwhelmingly Affected by Chicago Public Schools’ Proposed Closures."

This makes my fourth or fifth appearance on VoR. And now there is a Rod McCullom category—with a minor spelling change. Ta-da! More  in the weeks ahead.

EBONY: Mental Health Disparities Endanger Chicago’s Black Youth

Mental health remains largely absent from public debate across the Black community. This is despite data that show Blacks "are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than Whites" and mental health care disparities are even more pronounced among Black and Latino children.

Our latest for EBONY: "Mental Health Disparities Endanger Chicago’s Black Youth."

There has been a national outcry for increased access to mental health treatment in the wake of the Aurora and Newtown shootings. But in Chicago—whose gun-violence murder rate last year was the equivalent of  "a Newtown  [massacre] every four months"—has seen a steady decrease in funding to mental health programs.

“From 2009 to 2012, state leaders cut roughly $187 million from state-sponsored programs,” according to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That’s just over thirty percent of its mental health budget.  Today, Illinois “has the dubious distinction” of ranking third in the nation when it comes to states with the highest dollar amounts cut from mental health programs. Further,  six of Chicago's twelve mental health care facilities have been closed down by the state, including facilities in the heart of the city's Black community on the South Side.

Read the full report HERE.

The article is part of EBONY's new series "ENOUGH" which examines life for Chicago's Black youth.

Autopsy Findings Still Pending in Marco McMillian Murder

It has been more than one month since the murder of Marco McMillian, the 34-year-old fundraising executive who was running for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi. McMillian was gay. But the cause of death still remains "largely a mystery" pending an overdue autopsy report, according to the AP.

Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith says the state crime lab is waiting for an investigative report from the sheriff's office. He says that will be incorporated into the autopsy report before it's released.

Lawrence Reed is charged with murder, but authorities haven't released a possible motive. Carter Womack, McMillian's godfather, says the family is frustrated by the lack of information.

McMillian's body was found on February 27 near a Mississippi River levee.  Murder charges were filed against 22-year-old Lawrence Reed on February 28. Reed was extradited to Mississippi from Tennessee in mid-March.

Police investigators and several of the suspects' friends have said the suspect is claiming a disgusting "gay panic" defense. More recently: Friends of the suspect now say that Reed claims McMillian tried to "rape" him.

McMillian's family initially insisted that his sexuality was a not factor in his death. The family later claimed that  McMillian was beaten, tortured and burned. The Coahama County coroner has disputed  the family's claims, notes the Clarion-Ledger, the New York Times and the AP. "Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith has said that McMillian was not dragged by a car, he was dragged out of a vehicle by someone and his body left near a Mississippi River levee. He has said McMillian's body had a couple of small burns that happened after his death."

Jarvis Deberry at the New Orleans Times-Picayune asked readers, "Does the Black Community Care Less When Its Gay Members are Killed?" in early March. The article picked up on my reporting at EBONY on the Marco McMillian, Robert Champion and James C. Anderson murders.

You May Have Missed:
Murder in the Mississippi Delta [EBONY]
Has Black Media Ignored Sexuality of FAMU Victim?
FBI to Monitor McMillian Investigation
Does the Black Community Care When Gay are Killed?
"Gay Panic" Defense in Slaying of Mayoral Candidate
Charges Filed in Murder of Miss. Mayoral Candidate
Miss. Town "Stunned" After Murder of Candidate
Homicide in Death of Gay MS Mayoral Candidate?
Suspect Claims Marco McMillian Tried to "Rape" Him
McMillian Murder Suspect Extradited to Mississippi

VIDEO: Former 49ers Player Kwame Harris Discusses Being Gay w/ CNN

Former San Francisco 49er player Kwame Harris discussed his sexuality with CNN Newsroom this morning. Harris discussed his years in the closet playing for the NFL.

"You want to escape the despair and turmoil and your mind goes to dark places," said Harris of being in the closet. "I'm happy today. The cost was great not speak candidly open about myself in complete manner. If I could have done it differently, I would have hoped I found the strength [to come out]."

Harris was an offensive tackle who played five seasons with the 49ers and one season with the Oakland Raiders. The footballer was outed in late January when he was charged with felony domestic violence and assault charges in connection with an August 2012 incident involving an ex-boyfriend. The court case happened only days before his former teammates at the 49ers were headed to the Super Bowl.

Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

Bond Denied for Anti-Gay Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

And it couldn't happen to a better person ...

A federal judge has denied a request by ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to be released on bond while he awaits sentencing. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds [cited] Kilpatrick’s criminal record and history of problems adhering to parole conditions. A federal jury on March 11 found Kilpatrick and his friend Bobby Ferguson guilty on multiple counts, including racketeering conspiracy.

The former mayor could face up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering, conspiracy, bribery and tax fraud convictions. Kilpatrick's corruption trial "exposed a brazen pay-to-play culture during his years in office, while the distressed city lost jobs and people and veered toward insolvency," noted the Associated Press. 

The State of Michigan took over Detroit's government in early March. It is now headed by an emergency city manager appointed by the Republican governor to address the city's financial troubles "including $14.9 billion in long-term debt and pension obligations," reports The Atlantic.

During his scandal-plagued administration, Kilpatrick infamously campaigned for a same-sex marriage ban in Michigan. The former mayor said that he didn't "support equal rights for gays because marriage should be a sacred institution between 'a man and a woman.' " The anti-gay mayor was later outed as a serial adulterer. Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff faced multiple felonies after "tens of thousands of text messages" surfaced, including many sexually explicit ones, that revealed they were having an affair and attempting to payoff witnesses with city funds. This was Kilpatrick's second publicized extramarital affair.

The former mayor's legal woes undoubtedly helped end the career of his mother, one of the biggest names in Detroit politics and one of the LGBT community's strongest supporters on Capitol Hill. Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick lost her bid for an eighth term in August 2010. Kilpatrick’s mother "offered her Detroit home as collateral to ensure her son shows up to court for sentencing," added the Associated Press.  Judge Edmunds still denied bond.

In November 2009, Charles Pugh made history when he was elected Detroit's first-ever openly gay city councilman and the city council president. Pugh became one of the highest profile Black gay men to be elected to office in the nation.

You May Have Missed:
Anti-Gay Former Detroit Mayor Guilty of Corruption
SEC Charges Former Detroit Mayor in Pension Scheme
LGBT Ally Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Loses Primary
Former Anti-Gay Detroit Mayor Gets Stiff Sentence
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Indicted in Sex Scandal
Kilpatrick Released from Prison

Detroit to End Police, Garbage Pickup in 20% of City
Charles Pugh Makes History as Detroit Council President

FAMU Postpones Search for New President After Hazing Charges

This may have flown under the radar. Florida A&M University "suspended its search for a new president [only] days before interviews were set to begin," the Orlando Sentinel reported on Friday.

The move comes after 12 former FAMU band members were charged with manslaughter in connection with the vicious hazing death of Robert Champion,  the 26-year-old Florida A&M University drum major who died in November 2011 after a vicious hazing from fellow band members. Champion was gay. As a result of the investigation, FAMU has been put on probation by an accrediting agency. 

Suspending the search has the effect of making Interim President Larry Robinson's term open-ended. [Solomon L. Badger III, chairman of the Florida A&M University board of trustees] said he acted so Robinson can concentrate on getting the college off probationary status.

FAMU was put on probation in December by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in the wake of the band hazing death of Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion in Orlando. The SACS report said that the college was failing to meet basic educational standards when it comes to finances, student safety, operational "integrity" and leadership.

Former FAMU president James Ammons was pushed out last July amid widespread criticism after Champion's death.

Florida A&M University is the state's only public, historically black university. The Tallahassee-based university was founded in 1887 "and it is the largest historically black university in the United States by enrollment," according to its Wiki.

FAMU is well-known for its Marching "100" Band—which has a long history of violent hazing incidents. Investigators learned in May 2012 that more than 100 members of the marching band were NOT registered students.

Last week, one of the co-defendants pled guilty to manslaughter and  agreed to "provide prosecutors with a detailed statement and testify truthfully in the cases of his 11 co-defendants." A second co-defendant has provided an eyewitness account of Champion's brutal death, which allegedly included being kicked, punched and hit with traffic cones.

Champion's parents publicly revealed in January 2012  that their son was gay. In addition to being vocally opposed to hazing, Champion's sexuality could have been among the reasons why he was viciously beaten during the attack, according to the family's attorney. Read more at  my article for Ebony: "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell": Why Has Black Media Ignored the Sexuality of FAMU Hazing Victim Robert Champion?"

You May Have Missed:
Why Has Black Media Ignored Sexuality of RChampion? [EBONY]
12 Charged with Manslaughter in FAMU Hazing Death
Band Members Claim Robert Champion Agreed to Hazing
3 FAMU Band Members Charged in Death Are NOT Students
Band Members Describe Using a "Big Traffic Cone"
Final Felony Suspect Surrenders in Hazing Death
10 Arrested in FAMU Hazing Death
8 Suspects Arrested in FAMU Hazing Death
13 Face Criminal Charges in FAMU Hazing Death
Multiple Charges Expected in FAMU Hazing Death
Prosecutors Review Champion's FAMU Hazing Death
2 FAMU Music Professors Involved in Band Hazing
Still No Charges in Champion's Death
FAMU Student's Sexuality Lead to Hazing Death?
Police Arrest 3 FAMU Students After Brutal Hazing
Investigators Uncover Misconduct in Hazing Death
Lawsuit Reveals Details

NYPD Officers Who Killed Teen Have Been Targets of 5 Federal Lawsuits

PHOTO: AP

The New York Police Department officers who fatally shot 16-year-old Kimani Gray in Brooklyn on March 9 have been sued numerous times for civil rights violations from stop-and-frisk claims in recent years, reports the New York Daily News.

The NYPD sergeant and cop involved in the fatal shooting of Brooklyn 16-year-old Kimani Gray have been named in five federal lawsuits — which cost the city a total of $215,000 in settlements, court records show. Sgt. Mourad Mourad racked up three suits and Officer Jovaniel Cordova racked up two — all alleging various civil rights violations including illegal stop and search and false arrest. Prosecutors later dismissed all but one of the arrests against the six plaintiffs, and the criminal cases were sealed.

The allegations against Mourad include "pulling down" a suspect's underwear. Cordova has also been accused of "punch[ing]" a suspect in the face.

"Our clients’ interactions with Sgt. Mourad and Officer Cordova expose a disturbing pattern of unconstitutional and aggressive stop-and-frisk practices," attorney Brett Klein told the Daily News. "In each case, Mourad and Cordova attempted to cover up their misconduct by falsifying and fabricating evidence."

Protests have escalated after it was revealed the teen was shot in the back three times. Police officers claim thay Gray  "adjusted his waistband in ...  a 'suspicious manner'" and brandished a revolver before they opened fired. At least two eyewitness claim that Gray did NOT have a weapon. A woman who witnessed the shooting was she's "certain" that Gray "didn't having anything in his hands," reports the Daily News.

Kimani Gray's final words were a plea for help. "Please don’t let me die," another neighbor heard him say as he lay bleeding on the pavement. "One of the officers, she said, replied: 'Stay down, or we’ll shoot you again.'"

You May Have Missed:
Teen Killed by NYPD Shot 3x in Back
Protests After NYPD Kills 16-Year-Old Boy

Marco McMillian Murder Suspect Extradited to Mississippi

There is an important new development in the murder of Marco McMillian, the 33-year-old fundraising executive who was running for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi. McMillian was gay. The man who police say has confessed to killing McMillian has been extradited to Mississippi from Tennessee, reports the Clarion-Ledger and The Associated Press.

Lawrence Reed 22, is charged with murder in the death of 33-year-old Marco McMillian. Coahoma County authorities took Reed into custody Wednesday afternoon, Chip Washington, a spokesman for the Shelby County sheriff's office in Tennessee, told The Associated Press.

Reed had been in the Shelby County jail since being released from a Memphis hospital where he was taken after wrecking McMillian's car on Feb. 26.  It wasn't immediately clear where Reed was being taken. A spokesman for the Coahoma County Sheriff's Office had no immediate comment.

McMillian's body was found on February 27 near a Mississippi River levee.  Murder charges were filed against Reed on February 28. Police investigators and several of the suspects' friends have said the suspect is claiming a disgusting "gay panic" defense. More recently: Friends of the suspect now say that Reed claims McMillian tried to "rape" him.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced that it is monitoring" the case—but "has not indicated that it has opened its own investigation." This after a request by Rep. Bennie Thompson who was responding to family members who McMillian's death investigated as a hate crime.

McMillian's family initially insisted that his sexuality was a not factor in his death. The family now claims that  McMillian was beaten, tortured and burned. The Coahama County coroner has disputed  the family's claims, notes the Clarion-Ledger, the New York Times and the AP. "Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith has said that McMillian was not dragged by a car, he was dragged out of a vehicle by someone and his body left near a Mississippi River levee. He has said McMillian's body had a couple of small burns that happened after his death."

Marco McMillian's funeral service was on March 9. His sexuality was never publicly mentioned.

You May Have Missed:
Mur der in the Mississippi Delta [EBONY]
Black Media Ignored Sexuality of FAMU Victim?  [EBONY]
Suspect Claims McMillian Tried to "Rape" Him
FBI to Monitor McMillian Investigation
Does the Black Community Care When Gay are Killed?
"Gay Panic" Defense in Slaying of Mayoral Candidate
Charges Filed in Murder of Miss. Mayoral Candidate
Miss. Town "Stunned" After Murder of Candidate
Homicide in Death of Gay MS Mayoral Candidate?