Portland cops quit riot team after officer charged with assault of photographer

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Portland cops quit riot team after officer charged with assault on photographer
All 50 of the Portland Police Bureau’s highly trained rapid response unit officers resigned this week after the recent indictment of Officer Corey Budworth for allegedly assaulting a photographer during an overnight riot last summer.

“Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system,” the Portland Police Association said Tuesday after a Multnomah County grand jury charged Budworth on one count of fourth-degree assault related to the Aug. 18 incident. 

A Portland police said the resignations were effective Wednesday, and it was unclear what the implications would be for the law enforcement response to future protests in Oregon’s largest city.

The officers who agreed to resign will no longer work as part of the Rapid Response Team – but will remain employed by the police department, according to the police bureau. Participation in the riot team is voluntary. 

Internal conversations between the police department’s top brass, the mayor’s office, and a union representative continued Thursday, The Oregonian reported. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
– Iowa governor signs ‘Back the Blue‘ bill that increases penalties for protest-related crimes
– Las Vegas murder suspect lunges for cop’s gun after allegedly confessing to killing toddler: report
– Georgia police officer killed after being dragged by car identified, honored as ‘a model officer’
– Ohio woman seen in McDonald’s brawl pleaded guilty in 2014 to separate attack
– Minneapolis residents shocked after ‘fresh’ human remains found at 2 locations: report

Biden must undergo cognitive test to assess ‘mental impairment,’ Dr. Ronny Jackson, other lawmakers say
Dr. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician who is now representing a Texas district in Congress, called on President Biden to immediately undergo a cognitive test and prove to the American public that his mental capabilities are sound. 

“We can’t sit on this any longer,” Jackson told “Hannity” on Thursday night, citing Biden’s “embarrassing” performance overseas this week with world leaders.  “He’s not physically or cognitively fit to be our president right now.”

Jackson and 13 of his House GOP colleagues wrote to Biden on Thursday expressing “concern” with his cognitive state and citing several examples of potential memory lapses, including apparently forgetting the name of his defense secretary, telling an Amtrak story with a timeline that didn’t add up and seemingly blanking on the often-quoted first line of the Declaration of Independence. 

“Unfortunately, your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past 18 months,” Jackson and the GOP reps wrote in their letter to Biden, the White House physician and Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Jackson was Donald Trump’s White House physician. He was subject to his own Inspector General investigation in March that found he “disparaged” and “belittled” subordinates and engaged in “inappropriate conduct” involving alcohol use. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
– Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a national holiday
– Hannity questions why Biden’s staff doesn’t let him answer questions
– CNN’s Zeleny panned for fawning that Biden ‘carried himself with a seasoned air of confidence’ at Putin summit
– Analysts scoff as media praise Biden’s ‘tough’ persona with Putin: ‘The press are spinning this fiasco’
– The Biden-Putin summit: Winners and losers

Unvaccinated West Point cadets face growing and severe retaliation, sources say
The push for coronavirus vaccinations at the U.S. Military Academy began once the first shots became available back in January – but even as the inoculation rate rises and deaths and new cases both fall, the families of unvaccinated cadets say they are facing increasing pressure, coercion, and even threats to get the jab.

West Point does not have a vaccine mandate, nor does the military as a whole.

Still, there are only about three dozen unvaccinated cadets at West Point, which accommodates more than 4,500 students.

The unvaccinated few, many of whom say they have gained natural immunity from catching the virus earlier, face stricter quarantines and other restrictions now than at the height of the pandemic, according to multiple sources. The new limits include a seven-day quarantine for unvaccinated cadets in the break before summer training. That requirement took a full week away from their time off.

“It’s like solitary confinement – for a disease we don’t have,” said one cadet, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

New York state, where West Point is located, has lifted its COVID-19 restrictions – but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines still urge unvaccinated individuals to continue to mask up. CLICK HERE FOR MORE. 

In other developments:
– Tucker Carlson: US military is intensifying a political purge of the ranks
– Japan’s ‘Dr. Fauci’ suggests having no spectators at Olympics is safest option amid ongoing COVID pandemic
– US-Mexico border drug trade led by American smugglers
– Coronavirus outbreak at US Embassy in Kabul turns deadly, over 100 infected
– Veteran charter school teacher blasts online learning during pandemic: ‘We called school inessential’
– Japan to ease COVID-19 state of emergency ahead of Olympics

TODAY’S MUST-READS:
– Joe Rogan torches CNN’s Brian Stelter: ‘Hey motherf—er, you’re supposed to be a journalist’
– Pelosi’s answer when asked if ‘unborn baby at 15 weeks is human being’
– California man who allegedly shot and killed 6-year-old got into another road rage incident the next week: DA
– St. Louis couple who stared down BLM mob pleads guilty, loses guns
– Dad publicly shames neighbor who reported family’s treehouse
– Goldberg-McCain’s tit-for-tat spat over Biden stuns viewers
– Tropical storm warning in effect as storm barrels toward Gulf Coast

THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
– JPMorgan, UBS, Wells Fargo to allow US employees to take day off for Juneteenth
– Delaware Dem lawmakers pass bill raising minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 over Republican objections
– Uber can challenge California lawsuit alleging drivers were misclassified, judge rules
– $950 billion infrastructure bill gets bipartisan Senate support
– Senate proposes 25% tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing
– Kroger sees job applications spike from June hiring event

#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on “This Day in History”

SOME PARTING WORDS

Sean Hannity on Thursday night took issue with the way President Biden conducted his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin – and the way the media chose to cover it.

“As predicted by any objective measure, the meeting was an utter train wreck,” the “Hannity” host said. “Putin basically gave Joe nothing, the United States nothing. He made not a single concession. There were zero agreements and after the meeting, Putin held a solo press conference where, let’s see, he mocked and trashed the U.S. at length.”

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