Author Archives: McKenzie Stoute

New Zealand shooting shocks world

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

Last Friday, a terrorist attacked a New Zealand mosque, leaving 49 dead, marking this as worst mass killing in New Zealand history.

During the attack the terrorist live streamed the shooting to Facebook and Twitter using a helmet camera.

The suspected gunman was an advocate of white supremacy, and had a hatred for immigrants, which fueled his decision to target the Mosque. The gunman wrote a manifesto which he posted on Facebook and stated, that he wanted to avenge attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims. The dead and wounded include individuals from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Turkey.

World leaders have spoken out about the attack, including President Trump

“My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!” he stated.

This shooting comes at a surprise for New Zealand natives being, Mass shootings are extremely rare in New Zealand. The most well-known shooting is the Aramoana massacre that happened all the way back in 1990, when a man gunned down 13 people in a tiny seaside village. Immediately after this pas attack, The prime minister on Saturday vowed to tighten New Zealand’s gun laws.

Jussie Smollett attack investigated

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett is in hot water after allegedly orchestrating a hate crime against himself. He has been charged with filing a false police report after claiming to be the victim of a racist, homophobic attack.

Smollett claimed that he was attacked on Jan. 29, by two masked men while walking home in Chicago. He described his attackers as wearing mask, “Make America Great Again” hats and yelling racist and homophobic slurs at him. Smollett continued to explain how one of the attackers tied a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach.

Many stars and fans of the “Empire” actor took to social media to voice their support for Smollett.

When searching for evidence police couldn’t find any surveillance camera footage of the attack but saw two men who matched the description Smollett gave oh his attackers, walking the street he claimed he was attacked on. Come to find out these men are friends of Smollett and stated,

“Jussie hired us to stage this attack against him because he felt a threatening letter he received wasn’t getting enough attention.”

Smollett continues to deny these claims with his attorney public stating, “Jussie has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”

Currently, the public doesn’t know who to believe, this story giving individuals yet another reason to not trust what is put out in the news media.

National border emergency declared

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

After lots of speculation, President Trump declared a national emergency over border security on Friday.

This decision came after Congress wouldn’t give the president the $5.7 billion he asked for to build the wall, that he previously stated that Mexico was going to pay. This resulted in a 35-day government shutdown, the longest U.S government shutdown in history. In order to avoid another shutdown President Trump signed a bipartisan spending bill that allocated him $1.38 billion for border barriers. This falls more than $4 billion short of what Trump sought.

The president has received backlash for this, with many Democrats saying it is an unconstitutional abuse of his authority.

“We’re talking about an invasion of our country,” President Trump stated in defense of his actions. Trump plans to draw $6.7 billion from the military, $2.5 billion from counter-narcotics programs and $600 million from the Treasury Department.

Yet, this is the closest that President Trump has gotten to fulfilling his promise of building a wall along Mexico’s border.

Booker joins list of 2020 candidates

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By MCKENZIE STOUTE

With the next presidential election only one year away, many have been wondering who is going to take on current president Donald Trump in 2020. At this point, Americans are insisting to know who they will be looking as candidates in election before hand. Since President Trump was elected, people have been making assumptions about who will be running against him and who won’t be. We even have had talk about music artist Kanye West running for president.

Although the next election is more than a year away, there are very few things the public knows for sure, but slowly but surely we will start to receive confirmations of who is officially running.

So, what do we know for sure? Cory Booker, a 49-year-old New Jersey senator, finally  announced that he will officially be running for president as a Democratic candidate in 2020. Booker, who is a Stanford University graduate and Yale Law School alumni is more than certified for the position.

The announcement of Booker running for office is no surprise being there has been talk about him running for over a year now. Booker’s platform has always been one of love and unity and plans to stick with that message throughout the campaign.

“The lines that divide us are nowhere near as strong as the ties that bind us. When we join together and work together — we will rise” is the message the senator attached to the video announcing his presidential campaign.

This video shows clips of the civil rights movement and the most recent movements we’ve had like March for our Lives and the Women’s March on Washington. Through showing support for group protest and coming together as Americans, peacefully, to make change, Booker is hoping that the stark contrast between his message and our current president’s message is what will lead him to winning the 2020 election.