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In his State of the Union address, Biden called for police reform
President Joe Biden recognized Tyre Nichols's parents during his State of the Union address Tuesday night and noted that he and other white parents have never had to have "the Talk" with their kids about what to do if a police officer pulls them over.
"Beau, Hunter, [Ashley], my children, I never had to have the Talk with them," Biden said. "I never had to tell them, 'If a police officer pulls you over, turn your interior lights on right away. Don't reach for your license. Keep your hands on the steering wheel.' Imagine having to worry like that every single time your kid got in a car."
Biden went on to say that while most police officers are good and honorable people, what happened to Nichols happens too often. The president pointed to the executive order he signed banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants among federal law enforcement as a recent accomplishment. But more needs to be done, he said.
Here’s what else you missed from the SOTU if you went to bed at 9 p.m.
- Biden was heckled by Republican lawmakers during his SOTU. Biden criticized Republican Congress members for their vague approach to cutting the national budget, especially regarding Social Security and Medicare. In response, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pointed at Biden and yelled, "Liar!" and "China's spying on us!"
- House Speaker Kevin McCarthy "appeared to shush his colleagues" several times during the speech, Matt Viser and Amy Wang report for the Washington Post.
- “I’m a capitalist,” Biden said. “But … I think a lot of you at home agree with me that our tax system is not fair.” According to ABC News, The Biden administration has proposed a new tax on people who make over $100 million a year, and higher taxes for companies that buy their own stock to return money to stakeholders.
- Biden vowed to veto any national abortion ban proposed by Congress. But the odds of Congress passing legislation restoring the constitutional right to an abortion are extremely low, the 19th reports, and over a dozen states have passed dangerous abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
SNAPSHOTS
Former London police officer David Carrick was sentenced to 36 life sentences for 85 offenses against 12 women. Carrick, a veteran police officer, had pleaded guilty on Jan. 16 to raping, kidnapping, and sexually assaulting women over the span of 17 years.
Bing is hoping it can out-Google Google using AI. The new Bing, which will become available to the general public in the coming weeks, reportedly works on a more sophisticated version of GPT 3.5, the AI language that powers ChatGPT.
Exercise can make you horny, and it's totally normal. It's a phenomenon that challenges everything we know about arousal and orgasms, and their intrinsic and personal sexual nature.
Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, has been linked to a 19-year-old model. If you look back at the actor’s relationship history, even his most long-term romances have ended before or just after his partner’s 25th birthday.
A man alleges that the police officers charged with killing Tyre Nichols beat him just three days earlier
A man is suing the city of Memphis and the same five police officers who allegedly killed Tyre Nichols, accusing them of punching him and stomping on him without cause just three days before the group brutally beat Nichols.
Like Nichols, Monterrious Harris was stopped by officers in the now-disbanded Scorpion Unit, and his lawsuit's complaint says he believes the only reason he wasn't more severely injured or killed is because bystanders interrupted the alleged violent assault. The officers then took him into custody and "false criminal charges" were filed, the complaint says.
According to the lawsuit, the Scorpion unit's officers were trained to use aggressive force against Black residents of Memphis. Eight Scorpion Unit officers are named as defendants, including Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith — the five officers who have been charged with second-degree murder. Because none of the officers identified themselves as law enforcement, Harris believed he was being robbed before police punched, stomped, and dragged him across concrete, the complaint says.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Litefeet has become a symbol of New York City. This subway dancer is keeping the legacy alive.
At 23, Sony Jayy has been litefeet dancing on the New York City Subway for a decade. At first, they did it for the love, his friend Malik told BuzzFeed News. Now it was a job. Six hours a day at least, five days a week. While Sony has performed onstage and in music videos, he still pays his bills by dancing on the subway.
Litefeet — a style of hip-hop dance that incorporates precision footwork, pole tricks, and props like hats — was born in Harlem in the early 2000s, with Mr. YouTube and Chrybaby Cozie as some of its earliest pioneers. At first, performers developed the style in schools and parks, but within a few years, they were doing it on the subway for cash.
Most subway riders have seen the guys who shout “Showtime!” and kick, spin, and cartwheel perilously close to the faces of passengers. And beyond the subway, stars like Kid the Wiz, Kid Pat, and the group W.A.F.F.LE have been flown around the world to appear in ads, music videos, and TV shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and America’s Got Talent — bringing a New York legacy into the global spotlight.
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