Ta’Kiya Young: Pregnant black woman shot by police was ‘murdered’, family’s lawyer says
A lawyer representing the family of a pregnant black woman who was shot dead by police in Ohio has said she was “murdered” and has called for the officer to be charged.
Ta’Kiya Young, 21, was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting on 24 August. Her unborn daughter also died.
Bodycam footage released by police shows the incident outside a food shop in the suburb of Blendon Township in the US state.
Ms Young had two young sons, six-year-old Ja’Kobie and three-year-old Ja’Kenlie, and was “so excited” to welcome her little girl, her grandmother Nadine Young said.
Sean Walton, a lawyer representing Young’s family, said the video clearly shows that the shooting was not justified.
“Ta’Kiya’s family is heartbroken,” he said. “The video did nothing but confirm their fears that Ta’Kiya was murdered unjustifiably… and it was just heartbreaking for them to see Ta’Kiya having her life taken away under such ridiculous circumstances.”
Mr Walton also criticised police for not releasing the video footage for more than a week after the shooting.
Ms Young’s death follows a series of fatal shootings of black adults and children by police in Ohio.
Friends comfort each other at a private candlelight vigil. Pic: AP
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The officer who shot Ms Young is on paid administrative leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation examines the shooting.
A second officer who was on the scene has returned to active duty. Their names, races and ranks have not been released.
A police union official said calls to charge the officer who shot Ms Young before an investigation is complete are premature.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford called the shooting a tragedy.
“Ms Young’s family is understandably very upset and grieving,” he said in a statement released on Friday.
“While none of us can fully understand the depths of their pain, all of us can remember them in our prayers and give them the time and space to deal with this heartbreaking turn of events.”
Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township police, criticised Mr Walton’s characterisation of the shooting as murder before all the facts have been gathered.
He said an investigation will determine whether the shooting was justified.
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Bodycam footage has shown the moment a pregnant black woman was shot and killed by police in Ohio
What does the footage show?
The video shows two officers outside Ms Young’s car, which is parked outside a food shop.
In the footage, an officer can be seen at the driver’s side window.
He repeatedly demands that Ms Young “get out of the car” as she has been accused of theft.
Ms Young is seen refusing to get out of the car, turning the steering wheel of the vehicle and apparently driving towards the officer standing in front of the car.
The officer, who can be seen in the reflection on the car bonnet holding his gun at Ms Young, fires the weapon through the windscreen.
Seconds later, her car drifts until it hits the shop’s wall.
The two officers run towards the moving car.
One of them can be heard saying “shots fired” on his radio before breaking the window of the car.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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