Justice Ginsburg becomes first woman and Jewish person to lie in state at U.S. Capitol
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored Friday as she laid in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Ginsburg is both the first woman and Jewish person to lie in state at the nation’s capitol, according to NBC news.
Due to COVID-19, the ceremony was open to invited guests only.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden and Biden’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris, attended the ceremony.
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of the conservative D.C. synagogue Adas Israel offered prayers during the ceremony and honored Ginsburg’s legacy.
“Today we stand in sorrow, and tomorrow we the people must carry on Justice Ginsburg’s legacy,” Holtzblatt said. “Even as our hearts are breaking, we must rise with her strength and move forward.”
Ginsburg died in Washington, D.C. last Friday due to complications from pancreatic cancer. She served 27 years on the high court.
A private service for Ginsburg will be held at Arlington National Cemetery next week.
Fort Worth woman files complaint against Whataburger after being out of job for wearing BLM mask
19-year-old Ma’Kiya Congious filed a discrimination complaint against Whataburger after she said she was forced out of her job more than a month ago for wearing a Black Lives Matter mask, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Congious filed the complaint with the state of Texas and is calling for several steps of action including the following:
- The company should allow employees to wear Black Lives Matter masks.
- The public at large should boycott the company for 90 days in order to see what action the company takes to show “Black Lives Matter.”
- The CEO should state “Black Lives Matter to Whataburger” on social media.
The mask is “not a political thing,” Congious said. “It’s just a statement that says ‘Black Lives Matter’ because we do matter.”
On Aug. 4 Congious was confronted by a white woman in an east Fort Worth Whataburger who didn’t like her mask. Managers asked Congious to take off the mask and deemed it inappropriate after the white woman said she planned to call corporate to complain. Congious said the managers had not previously addressed her mask.
After requesting two weeks’ notice, a manager told Congious “We accept it and you don’t have to come back at all.”
Congious’ attorney, Jason Smith, said a lawsuit may not need to be filed if Whataburger apologizes and recognizes it can do better.
U.S. surpasses 7 million COVID-19 cases, two governors call nation’s response worst in world
The U.S. hit 7 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus Thursday, according to NBC news. The nation’s death toll sits at over 200,000.
In response to accusations that President Trump lied to and misled the American people about the danger of COVID-19, two governors are now calling for a congressional investigation into whether the president interfered with the nation’s pandemic response to protect his re-election efforts.
Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, both calling for the investigation, said, “It is an inarguable fact that the United States has had the worst response to the COVID-19 virus of any nation in the world,” in a joint statement Thursday.
Cases were at record highs when the president predicted in July that the virus would “just disappear,” and they have decreased since.
The average daily number of new cases has been showing a downward trend: 47,000 a day in August, and this month the U.S. has been averaging 39,700.
COVID-19 infections in the U.S. are, however, trending upwards again this week with 43,670 new cases reported Wednesday.
Police investigate Paris stabbings near location of 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo offices
Two people were stabbed in Paris on Friday near the old location of the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices, according to NBC news.
The satirical magazine’s offices were the location of a 2015 attack in which 17 individuals died.
Paris metro lines were closed and school children initially kept inside in the area immediately surrounding the Friday attack.
French police are investigating the stabbings as a terrorist attack.
In a tweet shortly following the stabbings Friday, Charlie Hebdo said, “All the team at Charlie offers support and solidarity to its former neighbors and colleagues at PLTVfilms and to the people hit by this odious attack.”
The two stabbing victims worked for the documentary film company Premieres Lignes. The company founder, Paul Moreira, said the two victims were outside on a cigarette break when a man with a “butcher’s knife” attacked them on the street, before fleeing.
Moreira said the company had not received any threats.
