Category Archives: Detroit

Detroit changes rules for police use of facial recognition after wrongful arrest of Black man

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City to pay $300,000 to Robert Williams, whose driver’s license was incorrectly flagged in shoplifting investigation

The city of Detroit has agreed to pay $300,000 to a Black man who was wrongly arrested for shoplifting, and to change how police use facial-recognition technology to solve crimes after the software identified him as a suspect.

The conditions are part of a lawsuit settlement with Robert Williams. His driver’s license photo was incorrectly flagged by facial-recognition software as a likely match to a man seen on security video at a Shinola watch store in 2018.

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Heatwaves and wildfires strike across US as tropical storm forms in gulf

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Tropical storm due to form in Gulf of Mexico, adding to extreme weather as north-east and midwest bake

Potential Tropical Cyclone One – a slow churning system of low atmospheric pressure in the Gulf of Mexico – was badgering the Texas coast but had not fully developed, meteorologists said on Wednesday.

The storm, which will be named Tropical Storm Alberto when it forms fully, is set to unleash powerful winds, heavy rain and flood threats across the entire southern US, Mexico and Central America. Storm-force winds, which stretch more than 400 miles (640km) from the storm’s center, are already affecting southern Texas.

This article was amended on 19 June 2024 to correct a quotation from Bill Nye.

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Trump gets name of his doctor wrong as he challenges Biden to cognitive test

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Gaffe came as 78-year-old Republican presidential candidate sought to bolster his support among Black and Latino voters in Michigan

Donald Trump has made a point in recent months of deriding his rival Joe Biden as being cognitively impaired, mocking the 81-year-old US president for his verbal stumbles and accusing him of falling both up and down stairs.

But people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

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Tornado kills child and injures mother after tree slams into Michigan home

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Storms in US midwest and on east coast cause chaos as workers respond to reports of people trapped in collapsed structures

Tornadoes in the US midwest and on the east coast were causing chaos on Wednesday, killing a two-year-old boy and injuring his mother outside Detroit when a tree fell on their suburban home.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, emergency workers were responding to reports of collapsed structures with people trapped inside after another tornado there.

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Wayne Kramer, co-founder of rock band MC5, dies aged 75

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Guitarist helped to give Detroit band their powerful, politically charged sound and continued their legacy into the 21st century

Wayne Kramer, the guitarist who co-created MC5 – one of the rawest, most influential and politically engaged bands in US history – has died aged 75. His Instagram page announced the news: “Wayne S Kramer. Peace be with you. April 30 1948 – February 2 2024.”

Born and raised in Detroit, Kramer teamed with teenage friend and fellow guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, each of them influenced as much by free jazz as they were by R&B and rock’n’roll. Along with the frontman Rob Tyner, they made MC5 into an incendiary force in their city’s music scene, alongside peers such as the Stooges.

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Man charged with murder of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll

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A 28-year-old Detroit man was charged with three crimes, and authorities allege he was a stranger who had broken into home

A stranger accused of breaking into the home of a Detroit synagogue leader was charged with her murder Wednesday, nearly two months after her body was found outdoors with multiple stab wounds, authorities said.

There was not a “shred of evidence” that Samantha Woll was killed as a result of antisemitism or any hate crime, prosecutor Kym Worthy said.

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Suspect in killing of Samantha Woll released from custody without charges

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Investigators are reportedly still looking into ‘ambiguous’ statement made by suspect in death of Detroit Jewish leader

A suspect in the deadly stabbing of Detroit synagogue leader and leftwing political adviser Samantha Woll was released from custody on Friday without being booked with a crime after police had detained the man for three days.

The man’s attorneys, Allison Kriger and Mark Kriger, confirmed their client’s release to the Detroit News, which nonetheless cited four law enforcement sources who said investigators were continuing to examine “an ambiguous statement the suspect made to police” about Woll’s 21 October killing.

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No evidence of hate crime in synagogue president’s killing, say Detroit police

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Authorities have confirmed no motives and are ‘just short’ of naming one person a suspect in murder of Samantha Woll

Detroit police officials on Monday reiterated their belief that the killing of synagogue president Samantha Woll over the weekend does not appear to be a hate crime – but have yet to describe any theory or motivation for her murder.

“Right now the evidence doesn’t take us there,” said Detroit’s police chief, James White, at a press conference on Monday. “When we talk about hate crimes, there are certain tracks they take. We’re confident that we don’t have any indication of that at this point.”

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Funeral held for Detroit synagogue president as police search for motive

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Officials say they have found no proof of antisemitism as Samantha Woll killing brings wave of grief to Jewish and Democratic circles

A funeral was held on Sunday for the president of a Detroit synagogue who was killed over the weekend, as police searched for a motive.

Samantha Woll, an adviser to Democratic politicians and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside her home in the Lafayette Park neighborhood of Detroit on Saturday.

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Senate votes to advance stopgap funding bill to avoid shutdown – as it happened

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The 79-page stopgap spending bill would not include any border security measures, a major sticking point for House Republicans

In a major blow to Bob Menendez’s support, Cory Booker, his fellow Democratic senator from New Jersey, says he should resign following his indictment on corruption charges last week.

“I believe stepping down is best for those Senator Menendez has spent his life serving,” said Booker, who supported Menendez when he previously faced corruption charges in 2015.

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Joe Biden’s visit to the UAW picket line is historic – and may pay off politically

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The president standing ‘in solidarity’ with striking autoworkers is a powerful gesture that could resonate with key blue-collar voters

In the more than 150 years since workers first formed labor unions in the United States, no American president has ever stood “in solidarity” with workers on a picket line. Joe Biden has vowed to do exactly that with striking autoworkers in Michigan on Tuesday.

“This is genuinely new – I don’t think it’s ever happened before, a president on a picket line,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, a longtime labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Candidates do it frequently and prominent senators, but not a president.”

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‘A fight against corporate greed’: Bernie Sanders rallies with UAW in Detroit

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Senator kicks off United Auto Workers’ largest strike against US’s big three carmakers amid record company profits

US car workers striking against the nation’s three biggest automakers “are waging … a fight against the outrageous level of corporate greed” seen across the country, Bernie Sanders said on Friday.

The liberal US senator’s remarks came on Friday afternoon during a rally with the United Auto Workers in Detroit, Michigan, kicking off the first day of the union’s “Stand Up” strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford.

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Auto workers strike after contract talks with US car giants fail

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United Auto Workers union unable to agree deal with Ford, GM and Stellantis, who have seen profits and executive pay soar

Auto workers have launched a series of strikes after their union failed to reach agreement with the US’s three largest manufacturers over a new contract, kicking off the most ambitious industrial labor action in decades.

The deadline for talks between Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and the United Auto Workers (UAW) expired at midnight on Thursday, with the sides still far apart on the union’s new contract priorities.

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FBI arrests two alleged far-right Boogaloo Boys group members

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The arrests come amid concerns about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections

The FBI has arrested two alleged members of the far-right anti-government group the Boogaloo Boys, as authorities express increasing concern about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections.

Timothy Teagan was expected to appear on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit, where charges against him would be unsealed, an FBI spokesperson said.

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Biden talks up electric vehicle revolution – but is America ready to give up gas?

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President appears at Detroit auto show, where EVs are this year’s stars – but the road to electrification promises to be a bumpy one

Fresh off signing legislation aimed at propelling the nation’s electric vehicle (EV) transition, Joe Biden was in Detroit last week to reaffirm his support for electrification ahead of the opening of the US’s largest annual car show.

“The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified, whether you’re driving along the coast, or on I-75 here in Michigan,” he declared as the first North American International Auto Show since 2019 prepared to open its doors.

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Suspect in Detroit shootings was not confronted after first killing, police say

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Man aged 19 held over killing of three people on Sunday and wounding of a fourth did not encounter police after first incident

A 19-year-old man suspected of randomly killing three people on Detroit streets over roughly two hours may have been emboldened when he did not encounter police after the first shooting, the mayor said on Monday.

No one called 911 when a 28-year-old man was shot on Sunday, less than two miles from a police station, Mayor Mike Duggan said.

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Detroit court will require judges to justify cash bail and assess ability to pay

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Reform is the result of a lawsuit and is intended to challenge two-tier system where low-income people are jailed for lack of funds

A Michigan district court will implement reforms that will force judges in Detroit to state on record how implementing cash bail will protect the community.

The reforms are meant to end practices that commonly jail people from low-income and Black communities and could serve as a model for court systems across the US, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.

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Carlos Santana recovers after onstage collapse in Detroit

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74-year-old guitarist says he ‘forgot to eat and drink water so dehydrated and passed out’

The US guitarist Carlos Santana has recovered after collapsing on stage during a concert in suburban Detroit on Tuesday.

The audience was reportedly initially told of a serious medical issue and asked to pray for the 74-year-old musician, but Santana was treated swiftly and was seen waving to fans as he was wheeled off stage. He was taken to a local hospital for observation.

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Jack White marries musician Olivia Jean in on-stage surprise

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Star proposes in Detroit while singing lyric ‘let’s get married’, before ceremony performed by label co-founder

Jack White surprised fans by marrying the musician Olivia Jean on stage during his Detroit homecoming show on Friday.

The Detroit-born singer, songwriter and producer invited Jean onstage to join his performance and introduced her as his girlfriend.

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Key US-Canada border bridge to reopen after police clear blockade

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Ambassador bridge linking Detroit and city of Windsor to reopen on Sunday, official says, as numbers swelled to about 4,000 demonstrators

Canadian police have cleared protesters from the Ambassador bridge linking the country to the United States, ending a six-day blockade and allowing North America’s busiest trade route to reopen.

Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters on the border bridge early on Sunday, trying to end one of the main demonstrations that have broken out across Canada against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions to bring the pandemic under control.

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