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When to expect cooler temperatures as sweltering heat hits the US

When to expect cooler temperatures as sweltering heat hits the US



CNN
—

Two rounds of excessive heat will grip a large part of the country this week, impacting people from the Plains to the Midwest and the Northeast.

Heat advisories are in place for more than 30 million people from Oklahoma and Arkansas to Minnesota.

“Daytime highs will likely reach into the upper 90s to low 100s, and heat indices perhaps reaching 110 degrees when combined with high dewpoints,” the Weather Prediction Center said in its morning discussion Tuesday.

This heat will spread eastward, impacting the Northeast by the end of the week, then another round of heat will hit the Plains once again.

Between the waves of above-average heat, a bit of relief will come as cooler air pushes through.

Here is when to expect the heat and the minor relief.

“Dangerous heat indices expected today across much of central and southern (Minnesota) with afternoon heat index values ​​expected to top out around 105 degrees,” warned the National Weather Service office in the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

Heat index values ​​– the temperature it feels like when heat is combined with humidity – are for shady locations, the weather service explained. “If you are exposed to direct sunlight, the heat index value can be increased by up to 15 (degrees).”

The weather service breaks down the heat index temperatures into four different risk levels based on how heat index temperatures could affect the body. Danger, the third of four categories, is for forecast heat indices reaching 103 to 124 degrees. At this level, heat cramps or heat exhaustion is likely, and heatstroke is possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity. The maps below show the forecast dangers (dark orange) this week.

The heat will be felt much farther and wider than in Minnesota.

CNN Weather

An area of ​​high pressure sitting over the Great Lakes is creating bright sunshine. But it’s also resulting in warm, moist air from the south to spill into the region.

Plainly put: High pressure is making it hot.

It is generating above-normal temperatures for such a large area in the midsection of the country. “Today looks to be the hottest day of the week,” said the weather service office in Wichita, Kansas.

Here, temperatures will also top out around 100 degrees. But once you factor in the humidity, it will feel closer to 105 degrees in some areas.

In southern Nebraska, it will feel even hotter.

“Heat index values ​​are now forecast to climb as high as 110 degrees in eastern portions of the area,” said the weather service office in Hastings.

There may be one saving grace – a nice breeze.

“The good news is that south winds of 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph will help combat the oppressive heat,” the weather service said.

The heat will even affect Kentucky, where the horrific flooding happened less than a week ago.

CNN Weather

High temperatures are expected to climb into the lower 90s Wednesday and Thursday, proving challenging for those still living without power from the floods.

The heat will march on to the Northeast by the end of the week, giving the region a small window to cool down.

CNN Weather

For Washington, DC, and New York, the extreme heat will peak on Thursday and Friday. The weather service office in Washington mentioned in its morning discussion the forecast models favor “highs in the mid-90s which carries heat indices into the 100 to 104 degree range.”

New York City could even feel like 100 on Thursday and Friday, not able to escape the sweltering heat.

Its weather service office warned a heat advisory could be issued for those days.

By Saturday, a cold front will swing through the Northeast, bringing the potential for heavy rainfall and a temporary improvement in temperatures.

CNN Weather

After a brief reprieve, another round of heat will quickly hit the same areas as the first, sending high temperatures soaring once again.

“Friday looks to be the next chance of widespread 90s across central/southern Minnesota,” said the weather service office in the Twin Cities.

While this round may not last quite as long as the first, the heat will be just as potent.

“The center of the upper ridge looks to be situated over Kansas during the weekend ensuring the return of triple-digit heat to many areas,” the weather service said.

CNN Weather

By Saturday, another cold front will move through the area, helping to drop temperatures out of the triple-digit range and return them to more seasonal norms.

Saturday’s highs – back in the low 80s for Minneapolis – sound almost refreshing compared to heat indices in the triple digits.

While the Midwest starts to cool off, the second wave of heat will push into the Northeast by the beginning of next week.

“This wave looks to reach the Northeast by Sunday with another brief wave of high temperatures expected to continue ahead of a cold front into Monday,” the Weather Prediction Center said Tuesday.

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Alex Jones on trial: Sandy Hook parents testify about the ‘hell’ he has caused

Alex Jones on trial: Sandy Hook parents testify about the 'hell' he has caused


New York
CNN Business
—

The parents of a child who was murdered during the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting delivered emotional testimony in a Texas court on Tuesday, telling a jury that the lies pushed by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have stained the legacy of their son and tormented them for years.

The jury hearing the case will determine how much in damages Jones will have to pay the parents, Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, who won a default judgment against him earlier this year. An attorney representing Heslin and Lewis asked the jury last week to award Heslin and Lewis $150 million.

Fighting back tears at times, Heslin told the jury that Jones, through his conspiratorial media organization Infowars, “tarnished the honor and legacy” of his son. Heslin said that he couldn’t “even begin to describe the last nine-and-a-half years of hell” he has endured because of Jones.

“There’s got to be a strong deterrent that shall prevent him from peddling this propaganda,” Heslin said, adding that through his testimony he wanted “to restore my credibility, my reputation, and Jesse’s legacy that he so much deserves.”

As Heslin testified, a television screen in the court showed a photograph of his murdered son, six-year-old Jesse Lewis. Jones, who is expected to testify in his own defense later on Tuesday, was absent from the courtroom during Heslin’s testimony and the first part of Lewis’ testimony. Heslin called that absence “a cowardly act.”

“I’ve been here for a week and a half and [during] my final testimony Mr. Alex Jones does not have the courage to sit in front of me or face me,” Heslin said.

An attorney representing Heslin and Lewis told CNN the two have needed to be in isolation and under the protection of professional security during the trial.

Heslin also said on the stand that the lie pushed by Jones “resonates around the world” and that he has realized “how dangerous” it is.

Heslin described being repeatedly confronted by those who believed Jones over the last ten years, saying such interactions occur “right up to this day.”

“My life has been threatened,” Heslin said. “I fear for my life. I fear for my safety and my family’ safety and their life.”

Lewis also testified in court that she has been harassed and received death threats, including at her own home, all of which she said reopens the wounds surrounding her son’s murder.

“The fear and anxiety and unsafeness … keeps me from healing,” Lewis said. “It definitely negatively impacts the healing process.”

Lewis described the conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook as “deeply unsettling.”

“I feel compromised,” Lewis said, describing how she feels about her own personal safety.

Roy Lubit, a forensic psychiatrist who was hired to conduct an examination of Heslin and Lewis, testified to the court on Monday how terrified and worried for their personal safety the two parents are.

Neil Heslin, the parent of a Sandy Hook victim, took the stand today in the Alex Jones defamation trial taking place in Texas.

Lubit told the court that Lewis and Heslin “are very, very frightened.” When asked to specify who they are frightened of, Lubit responded, “Some follower of Jones trying to kill them.”

Lubit elaborated that Lewis sleeps with a gun, a knife, and pepper spray on her night stand. Lubit added she won’t even turn on the air conditioning during hot days for fear of not being able to hear an intruder possibly coming to hurt her.

Lewis testified Tuesday that she owns a gun to keep her other son safe, telling the jury that she failed to keep one son safe and will do everything in her power to ensure that no harm happens to her other child.

Jury selection for a similar trial involving Jones and Sandy Hook families commenced on Tuesday in Connecticut, where Jones was also found liable for damages earlier this year.

Jones has lashed out at the judicial proceedings taking place, baselessly claiming last week that he was being tried in Texas before a “kangaroo court.” Infowars has also published content attacking the judges overseeing the cases in viscous terms.

Jones’ media company, Free Speech Systems, which is the company that operates Infowars, filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday.

Attorneys representing some Sandy Hook families have accused Jones of having drained Free Speech Systems of assets in recent years as part of an effort to protect himself from potential judgments he may be ordered to pay.

One of the attorneys, Avi Moshenberg, told CNN on Tuesday that the bankruptcy filing made by Free Speech Systems indicated that $62 million in assets had been withdrawn from the company in 2021 and 2022.

“If you look at the bankruptcy filing, leading up to the declaration of bankruptcy, Alex Jones, the sole owner [of Free Speech Systems], took $62 million in draws in 2021 and 2022,” Moshenberg told CNN. “Just straight up draws. That’s why the company has few assets.”

A lawyer representing Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning. But a hearing is scheduled on Wednesday in which W. Marc Schwartz, the chief restructuring officer for Free Speech Systems, is expected to testify.

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Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says

Brittney Griner: Exam of substance in vape cartridges violated Russian law, defense expert says



CNN
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Examination of the substance in vape cartridges WNBA star Brittney Griner’s carried in February at a Moscow airport did not comply with Russian law, a defense expert testified Tuesday as her drug-smuggling trial in Russia continues amid US efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap for her release .

Among the violations is that results of the examination do not contain the amount of THC in the substance investigators tested, Griner’s lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, said after the hearing.

“The examination does not comply with the law in terms of the completeness of the study and does not comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” forensic chemist Dmitry Gladyshev testified for the defense during the roughly two-hour session.

The defense also interrogated prosecution expert Alexander Korablyov, who examined Griner’s cartridges taken from her luggage.

Griner’s appearance in the Khimki city courthouse marked her seventh hearing as Russian prosecutors accuse her of trying to smuggle less than 1 gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. She has pleaded guilty to drug charges – a decision her lawyers hope will result in a less severe sentence – even as the US State Department maintains she is wrongfully detained, and she faces up to 10 years in prison.

Supporters of the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury center who plays in Russia during the WNBA offseason have called for her release over fears she is being used as a political pawn amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. US officials face immense pressure from Griner’s family, lawmakers and the professional basketball community to bring her home, and Griner wrote to President Joe Biden pleading with him to do everything in his power to facilitate her release from her.

The 31-year-old sat Tuesday inside the defendant’s cage in the courtroom. The charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Moscow, Elizabeth Rood, attended Tuesday’s hearing and afterward said the US would “continue to support Miss Griner through every step of this process and as long as it takes to bring her home to the United States safely.”

Griner’s next hearing is set for Thursday.

At trial, Griner has testified that she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis and had no intention of bringing the drug into Russia. Following her arrest of her in February, she was tested for drugs and was clean, her lawyers previously said.

Amid public pressure and after months of internal debate, the Biden administration proposed a prisoner swap with Russia, offering to release a convicted Russian arms trafficker in exchange for Griner and another American detainee, Paul Whelan, people briefed on the matter have told CNN.

Russian officials countered the US offer, multiple sources familiar with the discussions have said, requesting in addition to arms dealer Viktor Bout the US also include a convicted murderer who was formerly a colonel with the Russian spy agency, Vadim Krasikov.

US officials did not accept the request as a legitimate counteroffer, the sources told CNN, in part because the proposal was sent through an informal backchannel. Krasikov’s release would also be complicated because he is in German custody.

“It’s a bad faith attempt to avoid a very serious offer and proposal that the United States has put forward and we urge Russia to take that offer seriously,” Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby told CNN, later adding, “We very much want to see Brittney and Paul come home to their families where they belong.”

Meantime, Griner’s trial carries on, with her legal team expected to continue questioning more witnesses before moving to closing arguments, during which the lawyers will elaborate on why they believe Griner’s detention was handled improperly. Closing arguments are expected in coming weeks.

Griner’s attorneys have already laid out some arguments claiming the basketball player’s detention was not handled correctly after she was arrested February 17 by personnel at the Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Her detention, search and arrest were “improper,” Alexander Boykov, one of her lawyers, said last week, noting more details would be revealed during closing arguments.

After she was stopped in the airport, Griner was made to sign documents that she did not fully understand, she testified. At first, she said, she was using Google translate on her phone from her but was later moved to another room where her phone from her was taken and she was made to sign more documents.

No lawyer was present, she testified, and her rights were not explained to her. Those rights would include access to an attorney once she was detained and the right to know what she was suspected of. Under Russian law, she should have been informed of her rights within three hours of her arrest.

In her testimony, Griner “explained to the court that she knows and respects Russian laws and never intended to break them,” Blagovolina – a partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners – said after last week’s hearing.

The detained player testified she was aware of Russian laws and had no intention of bringing the cannabis oil into the country, noting she was in a rush and “stress packing.”

Griner confirmed she has a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, Blagovolina said, which she uses to treat knee pain and joint inflammation.

“We continue to insist that, by indiscretion, in a hurry, she packed her suitcase and did not pay attention to the fact that substances allowed for use in the United States ended up in this suitcase and arrived in the Russian Federation,” Boykov, of Moscow Legal Center, has said.

Griner’s family, supporters and WNBA teammates continue to express messages of solidarity and hope as they wait for the conclusion of the trial and look forward to the potential of her release.

Before trial proceedings last week, the WNBA players union tweeted, “Dear BG … It’s early in Moscow. Our day is ending and yours is just beginning. Not a day, not an hour goes by that you’re not on our minds & in our hearts.”

This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.

correction: A prior version of this story missed Brittney Griner’s first name.

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Kentucky Flooding: Officials call for critical recovery supplies as dozens are found dead in flooding and death toll is expected to rise

Kentucky Flooding: Officials call for critical recovery supplies as dozens are found dead in flooding and death toll is expected to rise



CNN
—

As the death toll in flood-stricken areas of Kentucky continues to rise, rescue workers and officials are focused on recovering missing people in several counties and coordinating vital aid for thousands of displaced residents.

At least 28 people, including four children, have died due to severe flooding that struck parts of Kentucky last week, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday. The governor told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes recovery crews are “going to be finding bodies for weeks, many of them swept hundreds of yards, maybe a quarter-mile plus from where they were last.”

While reading a breakdown of those killed in each county during a news conference Sunday, Beshear became visibly emotional when he reached the four children dead in Knott County, where 15 people have been found dead.

“It says ‘minor,’” the governor said looking at the list. “They are children. The oldest one is in second grade,” Beshear said.

The flooding – which swelled onto roads, destroyed bridges and swept away entire homes – displaced thousands of Kentuckians, according to the governor. It also knocked out vital power, water and roadway infrastructure, some of which has yet to be restored.

There was risk of flash flooding Sunday night into Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. A slight chance of excessive rainfall is possible throughout the affected region on Monday and Tuesday. Conditions are expected to begin improving Monday, but the region could receive two-day totals of up to two inches of rain. Some areas could see more.

In Perry County, as many as 50 bridges are damaged and inaccessible, according to county Judge Executive Scott Alexander.

Debris surrounds a badly damaged home near Jackson, Kentucky, on July 31, 2022.

“What that means is there’s somebody living on the other side or multiple families living up our holler on the other side that we’re still not able to have road access to,” Alexander said.

Kentucky State Police are still actively searching for missing residents in several counties and ask that families inform law enforcement if their loved one is missing.

Search and recovery efforts could face yet another obstacle as temperatures are expected to soar Tuesday and through the rest of the week, placing crews, volunteers, displaced people and the area’s homeless population under pressing heat.

As the climate crisis fuels more extreme and frequent weather events, several areas of the US are currently experiencing flash flood risk, including swathes of the desert Southwest, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Tucson, Arizona.

State officials are immediately focused on getting food, water and shelter to the people who were forced to flee their homes.

Power outages and storm damage left 22 water systems operating in a limited capacity, a Sunday news release from the governor’s office said. More than 60,000 water service connections are either without water or under a boil advisory, it said.

Nearly 10,000 customers in the eastern region of the state were still without power as of early Monday, according to PowerOutage.us.

Officials overseeing the recovery efforts say bottled water, cleaning supplies and relief fund donations are among the most needed resources as the region works toward short and long term recovery. FEMA is providing tractor trailers full of water to several counties.

Volunteers work at a distribution center of donated goods in Buckhorn, Kentucky.

“A lot of these places have never flooded. So if they’ve never flooded, these people will not have flood insurance,” the mayor of Hazard, Kentucky, Donald Mobelini told CNN Saturday. “If they lose their home, it’s a total loss. There’s not going to be an insurance check coming to help that. We need cash donations,” he said, referring to a relief fund set up by the state.

Beshear established a Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund to pay the funeral expenses of flood victims and raise money for those impacted by the damage. As of Sunday morning, the fund had received more than $1 million in donations, according to the governor.

The federal government has approved relief funding for several counties. FEMA is also accepting individual disaster assistance applications from impacted renters and homeowners in Breathitt, Clay, Knott, Letcher and Perry counties, the governor said, noting he thinks more counties will be added to the list as damage assessments continue.

Though the recovery effort was still in the search-and-rescue phase over the weekend, Beshear said in a news conference Saturday that he believes the losses will be “in the tens if not the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

“This is one of the most devastating, deadly floods that we have seen in our history,” Beshear told NBC Sunday. “It wiped out areas where people didn’t have that much to begin with.”

And it wasn’t just personal possessions washed away by the floodwaters. A building housing archival film and other materials in Whitesburg, was impacted, with water submerging an irreplaceable collection of historic film, videotape and audio records that documented Appalachia.

Appalachian filmmaker Mimi Pickering told CNN that the beloved media, arts and education center, Appalshop, held archival footage and film strips dating as far back as the 1940s, holding the stories and voices of the region’s people. Employees and volunteers were racing to preserve as much material as they could.

“We’re working as hard and fast as we can to try to save all that material… The full impact, I don’t think you have totally hit me yet. I think I don’t really want to think about it,” Pickering said. She noted the Smithsonian and other institutions have reached out offering assistance.

The extensive loss Kentuckians are suffering will likely also take a mental toll, Frances Everage, a therapist and 44-year resident of the city of Hazard told CNN. While her home de ella was spared, she said some of her friends de ella have damaged homes or lost their entire farms.

“When you put your blood, sweat and tears into something and then see it ripped away in front of your eyes, there’s going to be a grieving process,” Everage said. “This community will rebuild and we will be okay, but the impact on mental health is going to be significant.”

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Republican nominee for Maryland attorney general hosted 9/11 conspiracy radio shows

Republican nominee for Maryland attorney general hosted 9/11 conspiracy radio shows



CNN
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The Republican Party’s nominee for Maryland attorney general hosted a series of five radio shows in 2006 devoted to arguing in support of 9/11 conspiracy theories questioning if the terror attack was the work of an “elite bureaucrat” who had demolition charges in every building in New York City and even suggesting if those who died after a hijacked plane hit the Pentagon were killed elsewhere.

Michael Peroutka, a candidate best known for his ties to neo-Confederate organizations, made the remarks on The American View, a radio show he co-hosted, in October 2006 while discussing the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

“What happened on 9-1-1, I told you that I had been doing some research and watching some videos,” Peroutka said during one of the episodes reviewed by CNN’s KFile. “And I said that if the buildings in New York City, the World Trade Center buildings, came down by demolition charges – that is to say – if there was this evidence that there was that something was preset there, then the implications of that are massive,” said Peroutka.

“I’ve been doing some reading and doing some studying, and I believe that to be very, very true,” he added, before further suggesting the work was done by controlled explosives.

“The other thing that just is so striking to me, I can’t get it out of my brain, and that is the vision of Building 7 falling faster than the speed of gravity, right? Building 7, which no plane hit,” said Peroutka. “And all of a sudden Building 7 falls, very consistent with what they call controlled demolitions or controlled charges because that building from the top down falls faster than if you had thrown a hammer off the top of the building.”

Peroutka’s comments echo the widely debunked conspiracy theory that the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade Center, the smaller building within the vicinity of the towers, were wired with explosives and detonated in a series of controlled demolitions.

The Twin Towers collapsed after terrorist-hijacked plans intentionally crashed into the North Tower and then the South Tower, killing 2,753 people. Nearby “Building 7” suffered intense and uncontrollable fires after debris from the North Tower hit the building, causing a chain reaction that led to the building’s collapse, according to a study published in 2008 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Peroutka went even further with his conspiratorial logic, speculating that every building in New York City could have preset charges awaiting detonation by some “elite bureaucrat.”

“That begs the question that if there are preset charges in Building Seven, what’s to stop there for being preset charges in Buildings 1, 2, 8, 9, and 27?” said Peroutka. “Are there charges in every building in New York City? Is everyone ready to be brought down whenever some elite bureaucrat decides that he’s gonna pull it?”

Peroutka also called the 9/11 terrorist attacks an “inside job,” saying “you can’t have an explosion in the basement that’s done by the hijacker on the airplane” and claimed that the official account of the 9/11 attack was the actual “conspiracy theory.”

The campaign did not address Peroutka’s previous conspiracy theories when asked for comment, but Macky Stafford, Petroutka’s campaign coordinator, told CNN in a statement that the “primary election results demonstrate that Maryland Republicans are dissatisfied with their current leadership.”

But outgoing Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan called out Peroutka on Sunday, saying, “These disgusting lies don’t belong in our party.”

“We know who was responsible for 9/11. Blaming our country for Al-Qaeda’s atrocities is an insult to the memory of the thousands of innocent Americans and brave first responders who died that day,” Hogan tweeted.

Peroutka previously ran for president in 2004 as the nominee of the Constitution Party. During that campaign, Peroutka posted on his website an endorsement from the League of the South – a new-Confederate organization that advocates southern secession. He’s homepage for his campaign prominently featured a Confederate flag linking to “Southerners for Peroutka” whose homepage had a large Confederate flag displayed over the Capitol saying, “We have a dream.” He also promoted his candidacy to the Council of Conservative Citizens, according to copies of their newsletter obtained by CNN. The CCC is a self-described White-rights group that opposes non-White immigration and advances White nationalist ideology.

Peroutka will face Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown in the general election this November. If elected, Brown would be the first Black attorney general in the state. Maryland has not had a Republican attorney general since 1952, when one was appointed; the last Republican attorney general elected in the state was in 1919.

In other episodes of Peroutka’s radio show reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Peroutka also cast doubt that the Pentagon was hit by American Airlines Flight 77, asking where the video is showing this “incoming attack, plane or missile,” later saying that it is “very plausible that a missile that looked like a plane hit the Pentagon.”

Peroutka even questioned whether remains of the deceased were found at the Pentagon, suggesting they were killed elsewhere. He said he had seen “no evidence” of any bodies or luggage to his late co-host and former presidential campaign adviser, John Lofton.

Lofton said, “Ah, but see the missile thing. Then you gotta count for the remains and the body parts and show how all those people got inside the missile. How all those passengers–”

“I saw the pictures. There was, there was nothing that looked like a body or luggage or anything in there,” Peroutka interrupted. “And the pictures that I saw – if there are pictures, John – that show body parts or luggage or even a seat of an airplane that’s consistent with Flight 77, that particular airplane. If there’s anything that’s consistent with that, I haven’t seen a picture of it.”

Shortly after, Lofton said, “If I can produce for you a person who was a friend or loved one of one of the passengers that perished on that plane that hit the Pentagon, that says, ‘Yes, we got remains back from our loved one or friend.’ Will that impress you?”

“No, absolutely not,” replied Peroutka. “Where did the remains come from? I’m not disputing that the people died.”

“Unless a plane hit the Pentagon, how would the remains of anybody on that flight get into the Pentagon?” asked Lofton.

“I didn’t say they got into the Pentagon. I couldn’t see them in the Pentagon. There wasn’t any – I’ve never seen any evidence that anything like a body or a passenger or passenger’s luggage or anything that’s consistent with the Flight 77 is in the Pentagon. If there are such pictures, I’d like to see them. Now, you could clearly understand that somebody whose loved one was lost on that plane, very possibly, could have gotten some piece of forensic evidence that indicated that their loved one was in fact deceased. But who says that came from the Pentagon?”

Peroutka then said this was the first time he had heard that the remains of the deceased were found at the Pentagon.

American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked by five terrorists on September 11, 2001, and deliberately crashed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on board and another 125 people in the building.

This story has been updated with additional reaction.

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Georgia authorities release body camera footage after woman dies following fall from patrol car

Georgia authorities release body camera footage after woman dies following fall from patrol car



CNN
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Georgia authorities released body camera footage Friday of an incident from earlier this month where a mother experiencing what her family called a mental health crisis died due to a fatal injury while in police custody.

Brianna Grier, 28, was experiencing a mental health episode on July 15 when her mother called police to assist with the matter, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said at a news conference Friday.

Crump, who is representing the Grier family, said Grier had a history of mental health crises and the family had called police several times in the past.

“When they used to come out to the house they’d call an ambulance service,” Grier’s father Marvin Grier said. “The ambulance service would come out and they would take her to the hospital to get some help.”

“But this time they only called the police, and the police didn’t bring the ambulance with them, even though, Ms. Mary (Brianna’s mom) clearly stated she was having an episode,” Crump explained.

Crump said Hancock County Sheriff’s deputies came into the home, handcuffed Grier and placed her in the back of a patrol car to take her into custody for allegedly resisting arrest.

In body camera video released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Grier asks deputies to give her a breathalyzer test and repeatedly tells officers she is not drunk. According to a time stamp on the video, Grier was placed in the patrol car shortly before 1 am on July 15.

Grier then yells to officers saying she’s going to hang herself if she is placed in the car. They proceed to place her in handcuffs and attempt to place her in a squad car but when she resists further, an officer is seen unholstering his taser from her.

When Grier sees this, she yells at officers saying they can rate her, and that she doesn’t care. The officer replies, saying he’s not going to rate her.

The video shows the officer putting the Taser away and then walking away from the rear driver’s side door. When the officer returns, he is seen lifting Grier off the ground and putting her in the back seat of the patrol car.

The body camera video fails to show if officers opened, closed or had any interaction with the rear passenger side door, but an officer is heard asking another officer if the door is closed.

GBI investigators concluded Wednesday that “the rear passenger side door of the patrol car, near where Grier was sitting, was never closed,” according to a news release.

Less than a minute later, after the officers drive away from the Grier family home, the video shows an officer suddenly stop his vehicle and get out.

Once out of the car, the officer locates Grier laying on the side of the road, face down. Grier does n’t respond to the officer, who is tapping her side of her and saying her name of her. The officer then radios to an oncoming patrol car that is behind him that they’re going to need an ambulance.

The footage does not show the moment Grier falls out of the vehicle but does show her laying face first on the ground and the rear passenger car door open.

The second officer says that Grier is still breathing. Grier never responds to the officers calling her name de ella after falling out of the patrol vehicle. The video ends with Grier on the ground while police wait for paramedics.

Attorney Ben Crump speaks at a news conference Friday regarding the death of Brianna Grier.

Crump alleges that police didn’t secure Grier in a seatbelt while she was handcuffed in the back of the police car and as a result, when the vehicle started moving, she somehow fell out of the car, landed on her head, cracked her skull and then went into a coma for six days before dying because of her injuries.

Investigators reviewed multiple body camera videos, conducted numerous interviews and conducted “mechanical tests on the patrol car” to determine “if there were possible mechanical malfunctions” to the vehicle, the GBI statement reads.

The GBI news release notes that two deputies were trying to get her into the back of the patrol car after she was arrested and put in handcuffs.

Grier told the deputies she was going to hurt herself and was on the ground refusing to get into the patrol car, according to the release.

The GBI statement said the two deputies and Grier, who was on the ground, “were at the rear driver’s side door of the patrol car” when “one of the deputies walked around and opened the rear passenger side door.” The same deputy quickly returned to the rear driver’s side door, the GBI statement says, and both deputies put Grier into the back of the patrol car.

Deputies closed the rear driver’s side door and, according to the GBI statement, “The investigation shows that the deputy thought he closed the rear passenger side door.”

In the video, an officer can be seen picking Grier up and placing her in the car through the driver’s side rear door.

Off camera, one of the officers is heard asking if the door on the other side is closed, to which the other officer replies yes.

Deputies left the scene of the incident and drove a short distance before Grier fell out of the moving car, according to the statement.

CNN has reached out to the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department for comment but did not immediately hear back.

“I just don’t understand why they couldn’t put her in a seat belt why they violated so many policies to prevent anything like this from happening,” Crump said.

“We loved her regardless, unconditionally. Now we got to raise these kids and tell them a story, and I’m not planning on telling no lie,” Marvin Greer told reporters Friday. “I want to tell the truth, so it won’t happen to anyone else.”

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