Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was found guilty of murdering Garrett Foster at a Black Lives Matter rally in Austin last July. Recently unsealed documents revealed Perry had expressed discontent with the protests and looting that followed the police killing of George Floyd, and had posted white power memes and messages about killing demonstrators on social media. The jury found Perry guilty of murder after deliberating for less than two hours, sparking debate over the use of lethal force in self-defense and the potential for racial bias in the justice system.
Posts tagged as “Austin Butler”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is seeking to pardon Sergeant Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murder in the 2020 fatal shooting of an armed protester during nationwide protests. Perry had claimed to police that the protester, a U.S. Air Force veteran, had pointed the weapon at him, inspiring him to shoot in self-defense. Abbott has asked the state Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend a pardon and to expedite his request, sparking debate over the use of lethal force in self-defense and the right to bear arms.
The NCAA men's college basketball season is coming to a close with an unprecedented Final Four line-up, featuring Florida Atlantic, San Diego State, Miami, and UConn. San Diego State guard Lamont Butler made a buzzer-beating jumper to secure a 72-71 win over the Owls, sending them to their first national championship game. This is the first time San Diego State has made it to the Final Four, and they will be looking to make history by winning the national championship.
A new study published in the journal Science suggests that our capacity to care about others may have very ancient origins, rooted in prehistoric animals that lived millions of years ago. Fish were found to be able to detect fear in other fish, and to form social bonds with other fish, suggesting that this capacity is not exclusive to mammals. Hans Hofmann, an evolutionary neuroscientist, commented on the findings, saying that some of the mechanisms that underlie our ability to experience fear and fall in and out of love are clearly very ancient pathways.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared that US aircraft will continue to fly and operate in accordance with international law, following an incident involving a US drone and Russian aircraft over the Black Sea. The jets had dropped jet fuel on the drone, an unprecedented action, and Austin emphasized that it is incumbent upon Russia to operate military aircraft in a safe and professional manner. The incident has raised concerns over the safety of US aircraft in international airspace, and the US is expected to take further measures to ensure the safety of its aircraft.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured an unprecedented image of WR 124, a Wolf-Rayet star in the Sagittarius constellation 15,000 light-years away. This massive star is in the brief Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova, and Webb's observations of this rare phase are valuable to astronomers. The telescope is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency and is set to launch in 2021, providing astronomers with the most powerful space telescope ever built to study stars, galaxies, and planets, and search for signs of life.
Lufthansa Flight 469 experienced severe turbulence while over Tennessee, resulting in minor injuries to some passengers and seven people being transported to local hospitals. The Airbus A330 landed safely at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, and the FAA inspected and cleared the plane for its next flight. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of following safety protocols during flights.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have confirmed that the US will continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, while also revealing that Austin and his Chinese counterpart have not spoken in months due to the US shootdown of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon. The US and China have been locked in a tense standoff, with no direct contact between the two countries' leaders, leaving the future of the conflict uncertain.