Police officer responds to GOP claims that Capitol rioters were tourists: 'If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists'

dental insurance - #1:Police officer responds to GOP claims that Capitol rioters were tourists: 'If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists'

  Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges testifies during the opening hearing of the U.S. House (Select) Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021. Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty Images

A police officer cracked a joke when asked about GOP claims that Capitol rioters were "tourists."

"If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists," Daniel Hodges said.

Hodges repeatedly referred to the Capitol insurrectionists as "terrorists."

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A Metropolitan Police officer on Tuesday cracked a joke when a Democratic lawmaker asked him about Republican claims that the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6 were "tourists."

"Some of our colleagues have been calling the violent insurrectionists not terrorists, but tourists," said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, referring to Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde's earlier claim on the matter. "Why do you call the attackers terrorists, and what do you think about our colleagues who think we should call them tourists?"

"Well, if that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists," MPD officer Daniel Hodges deadpanned, as lawmakers and the audience broke into laughter.

He continued: "But I can see why someone would take issue with the title of 'terrorist.' It's gained a lot of notoriety in our vocabulary the past few decades. And we like to believe that that couldn't happen here, no domestic terrorism, no homegrown threats."

"But I came prepared," Hodges said, before reading out the definition of domestic terrorism under US law.

-Mike Valerio (@MikevWUSA) July 27, 2021

Hodges referred to the insurrectionists who overran the Capitol as "terrorists" multiple times on Tuesday, as he and three other witnesses testified before a special committee Congress set up to investigate the January 6 siege.

The MPD officer made headlines after harrowing footage showed him screaming in pain while crushed in a doorway between the pro-Trump mob and law enforcement officers trying to hold the line.

On Tuesday, Hodges told lawmakers that he remembered foaming at the mouth while being crushed and as rioters tried to rip his helmet off.

"I did the only thing I could do, scream for help," he said.

READ MORE - Police officer responds to GOP claims that Capitol rioters were tourists: 'If that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists'

Family: Last victim ID'd in Florida condo building collapse

auto insurance - #1:Family: Last victim ID'd in Florida condo building collapse

  The final victim of the condo building collapse in Florida has been identified, a relative said Monday, more than a month after the middle-of-the-night catastrophe that ultimately claimed 98 lives and became the largest non-hurricane related emergency response in state history.

Estelle Hedaya, an outgoing 54-year-old with a love of travel, was the last to be identified, ending what her relatives described as a torturous four-week wait. Her younger brother, Ikey Hedaya, confirmed the news to The Associated Press. A funeral was scheduled for Tuesday.

It comes just days after rescuers officially concluded the painstaking and emotionally heavy task of removing layers of dangerous debris and pulling out dozens of bodies.

“She always mentioned God anytime she was struggling with anything,” he said, adding he was drawing strength from God, just as he’d seen his sister do in troubling times. 

The site of the June 24 collapse at the oceanside Champlain Towers South has been mostly swept flat, the rubble moved to a Miami warehouse. Although forensic scientists and rabbis are still at work, including examining the debris at the warehouse, seeking to recover any additional remains and personal items.

In the end, crews found no evidence that anyone who was found dead had survived the initial collapse, Fire Chief Alan Cominsky has said.

Search teams spent weeks battling the hazards of the rubble, including an unstable portion of the building that teetered above, a recurring fire and Florida’s stifling summer heat and thunderstorms. They went through more than 14,000 tons (13,000 metric tonnes) of broken concrete and rebar before finally declaring the mission complete.

“For the past 33 days they have searched the rubble as if they were searching for one of their own," Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a news conference Monday.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s urban search-and-rescue team pulled away from the site Friday in a convoy of firetrucks and other vehicles. Officials saluted their bravery, saying they had worked 12-hour shifts while camping out at the site and also dealing with the heavy emotional burden.

The tragedy that befell the tiny town of Surfside prompted an outpouring of love from far and wide where locals donated their homes and apartments to victims, children colored cards for rescuers, piles and piles of food were donated and tens of millions of dollars raised for the victims.

The mayor expressed hope that those kindnesses would be “a powerful and lasting reminder of how deeply connected we truly are in the best of times and in the worst of times.”

The dead included members of the area’s large Orthodox Jewish community, the sister of Paraguay’s first lady, her family and their nanny, along with an entire family of four that included a local salesman, his wife and their two young daughters, 4 and 11, who were buried in the same coffin.

Linda March, a 58 year-old attorney and fellow former New Yorker, was close friends with Hedaya. Oddly the two were the last three victims to be identified, along with 24-year-old Anastasia Gromova of Canada.

Leah Sutton, who knew Hedaya since birth and considered herself a second mother to her, said she and March were both “forces to be reckoned with.”

READ MORE - Family: Last victim ID'd in Florida condo building collapse

NC doctor sought 2 hours of sex a month with nurse in blackmail plot, lawsuit says

house insurance - #1:NC doctor sought 2 hours of sex a month with nurse in blackmail plot, lawsuit says

  In June, a prominent North Carolina physician asked his nurse practitioner to meet with him in his pickup. There, Dr. Jon Thompson couched an indecent proposal in the simplest of numbers — as if he were prescribing medication.

Unless the nurse practitioner agreed to have one hour of sex with him two times a month for one full year, according to the woman’s new federal lawsuit, Thompson would make sure her husband and other loved ones received tapes of her highly personal conversations with an unidentified third party.

Thompson, a well-known surgeon at Wilkes Medical Center in North Wilkesboro, intimated that he had stalked the woman and used sophisticated video- and audio-recording devices to capture her private communications, the lawsuit claims.

On June 11, it says, after threatening her marriage, her reputation and her job, the doctor was eager to initiate what he described as “physical alone time.”

Because the two did not have any surgeries for the rest of the day, Thompson said they immediately should drive to his apartment for “some fun” that afternoon, the lawsuit claims. The nurse practitioner told Thompson she had to think about it first.

A week later, on June 18, Thompson had another conversation — this time with his superiors at Wake Forest Baptist Health, which manages Wilkes Medical Center.

Instead of complying with his threats, according to the lawsuit, Thompson’s intended victim had reported his ultimatum two days before. Thompson, the lawsuit says, was fired after he acknowledged that the nurse practitioner’s allegations were true.

While her name appears on her lawsuit, the Observer does not normally identify victims of alleged sexual harassment or assault. The complaint accuses Thompson of violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, invasion of privacy, civil sexual assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Thompson’s conduct was “predatory and intended to sexually exploit and abuse her, and to place her in fear for her personal well-being and safety” as for that of her immediate family, according to the lawsuit.

The doctor could not be reached by the email address or phone numbers attached to his name in public records. The nurse practitioner’s lawsuit does not yet include the name of Thompson’s attorney.

In response to an Observer email seeking information about the incident, a spokesman for the hospital chain issued a statement Friday that appears to support the nurse’s version of events.

“Wake Forest Baptist Health is proud to have (the plaintiff) as one of our dedicated nurse practitioners,” it read in part. “Dr. Thompson’s employment with Wake Forest Baptist Health ended on June 18, 2021.”

Asked by email if the medical chain had made a criminal referral in the matter, the spokesman did not respond.

Sexual misconduct complaints against doctors, particularly against patients, have become common. A recent national investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution uncovered allegations in every state.

Larry Nassar, a former doctor for USA Gymnastics, was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting at least 300 young female athletes and dancers.

READ MORE - NC doctor sought 2 hours of sex a month with nurse in blackmail plot, lawsuit says

GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik lies and says 'Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility' for the pro-Trump January 6 insurrection

insurance companies - #1:GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik lies and says 'Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility' for the pro-Trump January 6 insurrection

  Stefanik lied on Tuesday and said Pelosi "bears responsibility" for the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Trump provoked the fatal insurrection at the US Capitol via his lies about the 2020 election.

Congressional leaders are not responsible for security at the US Capitol.

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Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York on Tuesday blatantly lied and said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "bears responsibility" for the January 6 insurrection.

"The American people deserve to know the truth. That Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility, as speaker of the House, for the tragedy that occurred on January 6," Stefanik falsely said.

Stefanik was echoing a talking point that has become central to the GOP's effort to whitewash the deadly insurrection and rewrite history.

-Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) July 27, 2021

Republicans have increasingly blamed Pelosi for the Capitol attack, pointing to security failures that day. But congressional leaders are not responsible for security at the US Capitol, and the insurrection itself was provoked by President Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election. He falsely claimed the election was "stolen" from him.

Before the violent assault on the Capitol began, Trump gave an incendiary speech filled with falsehoods about the election. This came after a weekslong effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the election, during which they pushed baseless claims of mass voter fraud. During his speech, Trump urged his supporters to march on the Capitol.

The fatal riot, which left five people dead, delayed but did not prevent the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

On Tuesday, the House select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection began hearings. Republicans have repeatedly pushed against efforts to investigate the insurrection, and ensured that Trump was acquitted after being impeached over the Capitol attack.

Senate Republicans in late May blocked a bill to set up an independent inquiry into the events of January 6, which prompted the Democratic-led House to vote in favor of forming the committee.

Last week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy picked five House Republicans to sit on the committee. Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy's recommendations for the committee - Trump loyalists Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan. McCarthy subsequently pulled all five of his picks for the committee, dismissing it as a partisan "sham."

There are two Republicans on the committee, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who were selected by Pelosi. Both were among the 10 Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump.

READ MORE - GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik lies and says 'Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility' for the pro-Trump January 6 insurrection

CDC to Recommend Fully Vaccinated People Continue Wearing Face Masks Amid Rise of Delta Variant and Under-Immunized Population

compare car insurance - #1:CDC to Recommend Fully Vaccinated People Continue Wearing Face Masks Amid Rise of Delta Variant and Under-Immunized Population

  In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised that people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks or maintain social distancing practices in most settings—just as Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, had predicted days prior. But now, amid rising infection cases due to the Delta variant of COVID-19, the CDC is expected to recommend vaccinated people continue wearing face masks while indoors in certain parts of the country.

According to the New York Times, the CDC’s earlier recommendation that the fully vaccinated were clear to go mask-free was met with criticism from some medical experts who said it was premature advisement considering the large number of hard-headed Americans who refuse to take the vaccine and those who haven’t gotten around to it yet.

But Americans who continue to go around unprotected from infection aren’t the only problem. When CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky responded to critics by pointing out data that suggested vaccinated people becoming infected was rare, and rarer were instances where they transmit the virus to others, the emergence of the Delta variant—which Walensky said last month could become the dominant strain in America—hadn’t been considered.

From the Times:

A day after the announcement, the agency released results from a large study showing that the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were 94 percent effective in preventing symptomatic illness in those who got two doses, and 82 percent effective in those who had received one dose.

But those data, and the C.D.C.’s decision, were based on infections of previous versions of the virus before the Delta variant began sweeping through the country. Reports of clusters of infections among fully immunized people have suggested that the variant may be able to break through the vaccine barrier more often than previous iterations of the virus.

Fauci has also changed his tune on how “liberal” we should be in loosening COVID-19 restrictions. In a Sunday interview on CNN, he said the pandemic was “going in the wrong direction” because too many Americans were not getting vaccinated. According to the Times, just under half of the American population is fully vaccinated.

The vaccines “remain effective against the worst outcomes of infection with the virus, including those involving the Delta variant,” the Times reports, but if this pandemic has taught us anything over the last year or so, it’s that erring on the side of caution can save lives and, maybe one of these days, lead to a complete end to the health crisis.

READ MORE - CDC to Recommend Fully Vaccinated People Continue Wearing Face Masks Amid Rise of Delta Variant and Under-Immunized Population

Officer Daniel Hodges refers to pro-Trump insurrectionists who attacked him on Jan. 6 as 'terrorists'

go compare car insurance - #1:Officer Daniel Hodges refers to pro-Trump insurrectionists who attacked him on Jan. 6 as 'terrorists'

  Officer Daniel Hodges referred to pro-Trump Jan. 6 rioters as "terrorists."

Hodges was brutally assualted by the insurrections during the Capitol attack.

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DC Police Officer Daniel Hodges during a House hearing regarding January 6 on Tuesday repeatedly referred to pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol as "terrorists."

Hodges during his testimony pointed to the hypocrisy of the rioters carrying symbols of support for law enforcement as officers were simultaneously and brutally assaulted.

"To my perpetual confusion, I saw the Thin Blue Line flag, a symbol of support for police, more than once, as the terrorists continued to ignore our commands and attacked us," Hodges said.

The officer offered a harrowing description of the violence he was subjected to.

-Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021

-Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) July 27, 2021

"The mob of terrorists were shouting 'heave, ho' and they pushed their way forward. A man in front of me grabbed my baton ... he bashed me in the face and head with it ... I did the only thing I could do and screamed for help," Hodges said.

During the insurrection, Hodges was crushed in a door by the pro-Trump mob.

-Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) July 27, 2021

Hodges during his testimony said that his eye was nearly gouged out when one rioter latched onto his face, pushing his thumb into the officer's eye.

Four officers, including Hodges, testified on Tuesday before the House select committee on January 6. All of the officers expressed anger and dismay over efforts by the GOP to whitewash the insurrection and downplay what they experienced during the Capitol attack.

Former President Donald Trump provoked the insurrection via his lies about the 2020 election, including the erroneous notion that it was "stolen." Many Republican lawmakers have continued to amplify Trump's false claims about the election results, while dismissing the House inquiry as a "sham" as they attempt to rewrite the history of the insurrection.

Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, two of the most outspoken Republican critics of Trump's election lies, are serving on the Jan. 6 commission.

READ MORE - Officer Daniel Hodges refers to pro-Trump insurrectionists who attacked him on Jan. 6 as 'terrorists'

GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger chokes up while telling police who fought off pro-Trump mob on January 6 that 'you guys won'

homeowners insurance - #1:GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger chokes up while telling police who fought off pro-Trump mob on January 6 that 'you guys won'

  Rep. Adam Kinzinger wiped his eyes as he listened to testimony during a hearing by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol on July 27. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger praised the officers who held off the pro-Trump mob on January 6.

Choking up in a House hearing on the Capitol riot, Kinzinger said: "You guys won. You guys held."

Kinzinger also criticized the "toxic" behavior of fellow Republicans attacking the House probe.

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Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Tuesday became emotional as he praised the officers who helped fight off the violent, pro-Trump mob that descended on the US Capitol on January 6.

"You guys may feel, individually, a little broken," Kinzinger, a US Air Force veteran, told the officers during the first hearing held by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. He added, "But you guys won. You guys held."

"Democracies are not defined by our bad days. We're defined by how we come back from bad days," Kinzinger continued.

-Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021

Kinzinger, one of two GOP lawmakers on the committee, also criticized his fellow Republicans over their efforts to downplay the insurrection and dismiss the probe as a partisan sham.

"We still don't know exactly what happened. Why? Because many in my party have treated this as just another partisan fight. It's toxic and it's a disservice to the officers and their families," Kinzinger said.

The January 6 insurrection was provoked by President Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election. He repeated the false claim that the election had been stolen from him and urged the thousands of supporters who gathered near the White House that day to march on the Capitol. The rioters delayed but failed to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

In the immediate aftermath of the Capitol attack, a number of top Republicans condemned the rioters and excoriated Trump for inciting the riot. But the GOP's tone shifted within weeks, and Senate Republicans ensured that Trump was acquitted after he was impeached over the insurrection. Republicans have since engaged in a coordinated effort to whitewash the insurrection and rewrite history, while pushing against efforts to investigate the Capitol attack.

Senate Republicans in late May blocked a bill to establish an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection. This prompted the House to vote in favor of establishing a select committee to investigate the riot.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty last week recommended five Republicans for the committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of his picks: Trump loyalists Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan. Both Banks and Jordan objected to the certification of the election results.

McCarthy, who also objected to the certification and spoke to Trump on the day of the insurrection, subsequently pulled all his picks and said Republicans would pursue their own investigation. The GOP leader has dismissed the official House inquiry as a partisan "sham."

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming has joined Kinzinger as the other Republican on the nine-member panel. Kinzinger and Cheney were among the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the January 6 insurrection.

READ MORE - GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger chokes up while telling police who fought off pro-Trump mob on January 6 that 'you guys won'

Atlanta police officer suspended after video appears to show him kicking handcuffed woman in the head

gap insurance - #1:Atlanta police officer suspended after video appears to show him kicking handcuffed woman in the head

  Video emerged Monday showing an officer seeming to kick a detained woman in the head in Atlanta.

An account posted footage showing a woman handcuffed after what was called a "domestic incident."

The Atlanta Police Department said the actions of the officer "appear to be unacceptable."

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A police officer in Atlanta was suspended after video posted online appeared to show him kicking a detained woman in the head.

The video was published on Instagram on Monday by the account Atlanta Uncensored, which said it took place in the Summerhill neighborhood after a "domestic incident" involving an unspecified other person.

It shows a woman facedown on the ground with her hands restrained behind her back.

Two officers - a man and a woman - stand near her. At one point the woman raises her head and the male officer appears to kick her with his right foot.

The caption from Atlanta Uncensored said the woman "was kicked in the face by an officer after she spat on his boots and pants."

The video does not capture any sound from those involved, but it does include the reaction of a person farther away.

Insider is embedding the video. Readers should note that it depicts violence and also shows the woman partially unclothed.

A third officer approaches from behind a patrol car just after the kick.

The video is about six seconds long and does not show events before or after.

In a statement, the Atlanta Police Department said one officer in the video, a sergeant, was placed on unpaid suspension pending an investigation and another officer was placed on administrative assignment. Neither officer was named.

"Upon reviewing the video, the actions of the sergeant appear to be unacceptable, and we are also concerned with the apparent lack of reaction from another officer present during the incident," a police statement said.

The police said in the statement that the department had received a call that a woman "was walking in the area and had pointed a gun at several people."

It continued: "Officers arrived on scene and were able to locate and detain the female.

"Officers became concerned with the female's mental health and requested Grady EMS [an ambulance service] transport her to the hospital for evaluation. The female was not charged."

The police department said its Office of Professional Standards had begun an investigation.

In recent years, videos posted on social media have helped to expose incidents of police brutality.

A video showing George Floyd die under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis last year sparked a national debate about racism in the US.

The officer who knelt on Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder in June.

READ MORE - Atlanta police officer suspended after video appears to show him kicking handcuffed woman in the head

Fact check: Man photographed with Donald Trump in 2016 was born without arms

medical insurance - #1:Fact check: Man photographed with Donald Trump in 2016 was born without arms

  A viral story on social media is spreading an inaccurate account about then-candidate Donald Trump's 2016 interaction with a disabled man.

The image shows Trump touching a man’s face. That man has two prosthetic arms.

“This Patriot lost both arms,” reads text under an image in a July 21 Facebook post. “The feeling of a handshake is now lost to him. President Trump realized this, and so (he) touched his face, so he can feel the human connection.”

But the man in the image didn't lose his arms. He was born without them.

The Trump campaign fueled confusion about whether the man, identified as Henry “Bubba” Stevenson Jr., had lost his arms while serving in the military when it included the image in a 2016 campaign video about veterans.

The same image circulated with a similar story, and the added detail that the man was a veteran, in the months leading up to the 2020 election

In September 2020, radio and TV personality Mark Simone claimed in a tweet the image shows a veteran. Trump later retweeted it.

Fact-checkers debunked the claim in September 2019 and September 2020. There is no evidence Stevenson is a veteran.

Fact check: False claim persists online that Trump will be reinstated as president in August

USA TODAY reached out to Simone and the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.

Man was born without arms

The photo shows Stevenson meeting Trump at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Jan. 8, 2016. The News & Reporter, a local paper, published an article and photos of the exchange.

“Stevenson was born without arms. On his right side, his arm stops shy of his elbow and on his left side, there is only a nub below his shoulder,” the newspaper reported.

According to the report, Trump signed Stevenson’s left prosthetic arm, a sign and a hat. Stevenson said Trump approached him after his speech and asked how he had lost his arms. He replied that he was born without them.

A bystander caught the interaction on video and posted it to YouTube.

In 2014, Stevenson’s quest to raise money for prosthetic arms made headlines. He and his family set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for bionic arms that cost $60,000 apiece.

In an article by WLTX, a CBS affiliate TV station in South Carolina, Stevenson’s mother is quoted describing how he coped with his disability as a child.

Fact check: Claim about unvaccinated being sent to quarantine camps started as satire

The News & Reporter reported that Stevenson got his first bionic arm in September 2014. His GoFundMe campaign for a second arm is still posted.

None of the articles mention that Stevenson served in the military. USA TODAY could find no other evidence that he's a veteran.

USA TODAY reached out to Stevenson for comment.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a photo shows Trump embracing a man who lost both of his arms. The photo shows Trump at a 2016 rally in South Carolina meeting a man who was born without arms.

READ MORE - Fact check: Man photographed with Donald Trump in 2016 was born without arms