Category Archives: Kentucky

Kentucky Republicans push restrictive voter ID law based on voter fraud myth

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New bureaucratic hurdle where voters must carry ID with a photo likely to affect minorities and students

Last month, Kentucky elected Democratic governor Andy Beshear in a closely watch election – a landmark blue win in a mostly conservative state. One of the core promises of his campaign was to restore voting rights to 140,000 people with felony convictions, which he fulfilled immediately after taking office.

Related: The biggest voting rights win in recent US history – and the Republicans trying to thwart it

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Kentucky ex-governor pardoned child rapist because victim’s hymen was intact

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Matt Bevin under avalanche of criticism after pardoning 428 people in final days of term including two convicted child rapists

When the former Republican governor of Kentucky Matt Bevin was asked in a recent radio interview how he could justify having pardoned on his last day in office a child rapist, he replied: “Which one?”

The interview went downhill from there. Bevin said he had allowed Micah Schoettle, 41, who was serving a 23-year sentence for rape, incest, sodomy and other sexual offenses to walk free last week after less than 18 months in prison because his nine-year-old victim had been found to have her hymen intact.

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Incumbent Kentucky governor Matt Bevin refuses to concede defeat to Democratic rival – video

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The incumbent Republican governor Matt Bevin has refused to concede the election in Kentucky, citing unspecified 'irregularities'. The Democratic challenger Andy Beshear declared himself the winner after securing 49.2% of the vote to Bevin’s 48.8%. While Donald Trump won Kentucky with more than 60% of the vote in 2016 and remains popular in the state, Bevin polls as one of America’s most unpopular governors

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Kentucky governor race: Democrat Andy Beshear declares victory – video

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The Democratic challenger Andy Beshear has declared victory in the Kentucky governor's race, but the Republican incumbent Matt Bevin has refused to concede, citing unspecified 'irregularities'. In a speech in Lexington on Monday night, Donald Trump – who won Kentucky by 30 percentage points in 2016 – told voters they needed to re-elect Bevin, or else pundits would say the president 'suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world'

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Abortion: judge strikes down Kentucky restriction but governor to appeal

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Federal judge says 2018 law would create ‘substantial obstacle’ to abortion rights

After a federal judge struck down a Kentucky abortion law that would halt a common second-trimester procedure to end pregnancies, the state’s anti-abortion Republican governor immediately vowed to appeal.

Related: All the president’s judges: how Trump can flip courts at a record-setting pace

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Student in standoff with Native American defends his actions – video report

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The Kentucky high school student filmed in an apparent standoff with a Native American activist in Washington DC says he was 'not disrespectful' during the interaction, as a spokesman for Donald Trump said students from Covington high school may be invited to the White House

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How conservative media transformed the Covington Catholic students from pariahs to heroes

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Conservatives have realized they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted

In just four days, teenager Nick Sandmann and his fellow students at Covington Catholic high school have gone from social media pariahs to conservative heroes.

On Tuesday night, Fox News hosts continued to feast on the controversy, which was sparked by a standoff between Covington Catholic high school students and a Native American veteran called Nathan Phillips. Footage show students wearing pro-Trump Maga hats taunting the Omaha tribe elder. The relentlessly repeated talking point — that there was a collective “rush to judgment” on the boys because they were Trump supporters – was used by conservative anchors Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham to attack mainstream media and left leaning social media users.

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Controversy over students mocking Native American strikes national chord

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Debate around the incident reverberated culturally and politically amplified by an aggressive entry into the argument by Trump

The spectacle of a crowd of white teens in pro-Trump caps mocking a Native American activist on the National Mall just days before Martin Luther King Jr day was perhaps not needed to demonstrate that America’s social fabric is stretched thin.

The explosion of a media controversy around the incident was probably not necessary to drive participants in the ensuing debate into their usual partisan crouches.

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Fresh footage gives more detail on confrontation between Native American and teenagers – video

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New footage has emerged of the confrontation between school pupils in Maga hats and a Native American protester that went viral last weekend. While the original clip appeared to show the students surrounding the man and mocking his chants, the additional video shows he approached the group after they became enraged by the taunts of a separate group of Black Hebrew Israelites

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New video sheds more light on students’ confrontation with Native American

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Initial footage appeared to show students, some wearing pro-Trump Maga hats, from a Kentucky high school taunting Nathan Phillips, an Omaha tribe elder

Longer video footage of a confrontation between a Native American activist and Kentucky high school students at a protest has surfaced, providing fresh insight into the controversial encounter and offering a broader view of deepening divisions in America.

Related: Kentucky teenager denies mocking Native American veteran

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Kentucky teenager denies mocking Native American veteran

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Student Nick Sandmann says video of him next to Nathan Phillips has been misrepresented, leading to ‘outright lies’

A high school student seen with classmates appearing to confront a Native American veteran has issued a statement saying that video footage of the incident gave the false impression that the teens were instigators in the confrontation.

Nick Sandmann, a student from the private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in northern Kentucky, was seen in the video standing face to face with the Indian activist, Nathan Phillips, staring at him with a smile, while Phillips sang and played a drum.

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Native American mocked by students in Maga hats – video report

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A group of Kentucky students in Washington DC for an anti-abortion rally have been filmed harassing a Native American who was singing and drumming. The group were filmed surrounding Nathan Phillips, and one teenager wearing a Maga hat can be seen standing in front of Phillips and staring into his face while smiling

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Outcry after Kentucky students in Maga hats mock Native American veteran

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Teenagers from Covington Catholic High School filmed jeering at Nathan Phillips and chanting ‘build that wall’

A Catholic school in Kentucky has condemned a group of its students after they were recorded harassing a Native American Vietnam veteran in a video that went viral on Saturday.

The students, many of whom were wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, from private, all-male Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills were in Washington for an anti-abortion rally on Friday when they were filmed surrounding Nathan Phillips and mocking the Native American’s singing and drumming.

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McConnell announces re-elect campaign at Fancy Farm picnic

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Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, left, speaks with Calloway County Democratic Party leader Zee Enix at the Graves County Democratic Breakfast, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018, in Mayfield, Ky. Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes waives to supporters at the Fancy Farm Picnic, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018, in Fancy Farm, Ky.

Kentucky AG hosting sexual assault kit training

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Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear is co-hosting a national workshop on helping law enforcement handle of sexual assault forensic kits that have not been submitted for testing. The two-day training session in Louisville this weekend will include the participation of 20 states.