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Parents of shooting victims are using AI technology to recreate the voices of their children in a bid to get US politicians to strengthen firearms laws.

A website, where members of the public can hear six voices, states the victims “have a chance to speak again” after violence “stole their voices and ended their dreams”.

The Shotline was created by gun control campaigning groups March For Our Lives and Change The Ref and allows people to send the AI-generated voices of the victims to members of Congress.

The campaign was launched on Wednesday on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland school shooting where 17 people were killed in Florida, including Joaquin Oliver, whose voice is one of the six featured on the site. The 17-year-old boy’s parents founded Change The Ref in his memory.

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Deadly shooting in Kansas City

The issue of US gun violence was highlighted again later that same day with a deadly shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade.

Another of the voices on the website is that of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who was among 19 pupils and two teachers killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022.

In the minute-long recording, his AI-generated voice reveals a love of video games, making friends laugh, and spending time on the trampoline with his family.

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“I’m a fourth grader at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas,” Uziyah’s voice said. “Or at least I was, when a man with an AR-15 came into my school and killed 18 of my classmates, two teachers and me.”

“That was almost two years ago. Nothing has changed. Even more shootings have happened.

“That’s why my family recreated my voice using AI to call you today and demand change. You’ll be getting more calls from others like me, too. What is it going to take for you to help make sure violence like this stops happening?”

Uzi Garcia
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Uziyah Garcia

Uziyah’s father, Brett Cross, told Sky News’s Yalda Hakim that “we’ve been his voice for the past 632 days, and yesterday, he was able to have his voice, share his message”.

Mr Cross spoke of his hopes for the project as it highlights children’s deaths: “All we want is for not another child to go through this. We don’t want another parent to have to pick out which cartoon character is going to be on their 10-year-old’s coffin.”

He said the campaign aims to “flood these lines” and make sure the politicians “hear our kids’ voices”.

He said they “are just ignoring us at this point. They’re not listening”.

“Are they going to listen to our kids? Are they going to listen to the voices of children that could have been here had they enacted just common sense gun laws?”

Crosses with the names of Tuesday's shooting victims are placed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Crosses containing the names of the Uvalde shooting victims. Pic: AP

He warned: “In America, it’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen to you [being affected by a shooting].

“It’s a matter of when and we’re trying to prevent that, we’re trying to prevent that for these politicians’ kids, but they just do not see it.”

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Mr Cross stated the NRA (National Rifle Association) gun lobby continues to “push out this propaganda and these agendas” that “good guys with a gun stop bad guys with a gun”.

“Except the only thing that is common in all of these shootings is a gun… they’re not focusing and facing the actual problems. They’re masking it, and they’re getting away with it.”

According to The Shotline website, more than 34,000 calls have been submitted to members of Congress so far.

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

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 arrives at the ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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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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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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Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump’s ICE raids

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Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump's ICE raids

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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Who is being targeted in Trump’s immigration raids?

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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President threatens to revoke US comedian’s citizenship

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.

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

Published

on

By

Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

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 arrives at the ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Image:
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.

Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
Music festival cancelled as headliner pulls out

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.”

Continue Reading

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