No Charges for the North Carolina Officer who Fatally Shot Keith Scott
The police officer who shot and killed 43-year-old Keith Scott in September will not face charges in his death, with Charlotte District Attorney Andrew Murray saying he is “extremely convinced” that Officer Brentley Vinson used deadly force legally. Murray said evidence showed that Scott had a gun at the time and ignored multiple commands from officers to drop it, maintaining that claims about him being unarmed during the confrontation were not true. [Charlotte Observer]
Trump’s Cabinet Picks Signal Embrace of Wall Street
Despite campaigning on a populist platform critical of Wall Street financiers, many of President-elect Donald Trump’s initial cabinet picks have deep ties to major financial institutions, including Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs trader, hedge-fund manager, and Hollywood financier. [New York Times]
Hundreds of Children Rescued After Child Porn Bust
A Canadian investigation found a child pornography film company operating in Toronto, and made hundreds of arrests, according to NBC News. The $4-million business distributed films to over 50 countries, including the U.S. Almost 80 people were arrested in the U.S., and many of the overall arrests were of people who worked closely with children, including school teachers, doctors and nurses, law enforcement personnel, pastors, priests and foster parents. Almost 390 children were rescued from the operation. [NBC]
#NoDAPL Demonstrators Rail Against Visitors Treating Protests ‘Like Burning Man’
Demonstrators gathering to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's fight against North Dakota's Access Pipeline have taken to social media to complain about people coming to the protest camps to party, taking advantage of food and other donations without contributing to the cause. "These people are treating it like it is Burning Man or The Rainbow Gathering and I even witnessed several wandering in and out of camps comparing it to those festivals," one protester wrote. [The Independent]
San Bernardino Victims Struggling To Get Treatment a Year After the Attack
A year after shooters in San Bernardino, California, killed 14 people and seriously injured 22 others, many survivors are still struggling to receive and get help paying for the treatments they need. One victim — who was a San Bernardino County employee — says she’s been battling the county and private insurance companies for months.
“I was shot by terrorists, and it feels like the people I worked with are victimizing me all over again,” she told the New York Times. [New York Times]
Colorado Corrections Executive on Why Solitary Confinement Doesn’t Work
Rick Raemisch, the executive director of Colorado Department of Corrections, describes how solitary confinement policy evolved from its original purpose of isolating violent inmates to its current use as a punishment for unruly behavior or breaking rules. And while solitary confinement can help a prison run efficiently, it hurts inmates physically and emotionally, he says. Simply put: “Does solitary work? No.” [The Atlantic]
FBI May Have Also Been Investigating Trump
Eleven days before the presidential election, the FBI announced it was looking into additional emails related the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server, only to announce later it found nothing new. But, the agency may have also been probing Trump, according to FOIA requests filed by VICE News. [Vice]
Let Women Drive, Saudi Prince Says
A Saudi prince urged his country to lift the ban on female drivers, saying in a tweet this week, "Stop the debate: Time for women to drive." Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are not allowed to get behind the wheel. [Al Jazeera]
The Parallels Between Andrew Jackson and Trump
Several journalists and politicians — including soon-to-be White House strategist, Steve Bannon, and Newt Gingrich — have compared Trump’s win to that of Andrew Jackson, who ran against President John Quincy Adams in 1824 as an “outsider” who also “declared the system was rigged,” the The Atlantic reports. [The Atlantic]
All of Ivanka Trump’s Advantages Were Actually Disadvantages, Book Review Says
In a cutting review of Ivanka Trump’s “The Trump Card,” the New Yorker unpacks her argument that of her advantages had actually been disadvantages. Take not being able to make a lemonade stand when growing up at the Trump tower or, when setting up one in their vacation home, getting no foot traffic. “We had no such advantage,” Trump writes. [New Yorker]
Hallucinogen Helps Cancer Patients, Studies Show
A single dose of psilocybin, an ingredient found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, could significantly decrease anxiety and depression in cancer patients, recent studies showed. The drug, which has been illegal in the U.S for more than four decades, caused minimal side effects while patients showed significant reductions in both psychological disorders months after taking only one dose. [New York Times and Newsweek]
Trevor Noah Goes Head-to-Head with Conservative Firebrand Tomi Lahren
Trevor Noah’s "The Daily Show" hosted Tomi Lahren, a political commentator for conservative outlet TheBlaze, to discuss Lahren’s heated criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement and Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest during the National Anthem, as well as her support for Trump. [Comedy Central]
Marijuana should be treated as a public health issue similar to tobacco or alcohol, President Barack Obama said in an “exit interview” published this week by Rolling Stone magazine in which the president criticized the country’s current state and federal laws about the drug. Obama said changing federal marijuana laws isn’t something the president can do alone, rather must be done through the legislature or the Drug Enforcement Administration, which “is not always going to be on the cutting edge about these issues.” [Rolling Stone]
Confessions of Instagram Influencer
What does it take to get paid for your Instagram posts? One Bloomberg reporter decided to find out what it really takes to become an “influencer.” Hint: It takes a team to make you look “authentic” for the masses, #liveauthentic. [Bloomberg]
This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Irene Plagianos, Emily Frost, Gwynne Hogan, Shaye Weaver, Camille Bautista, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Maya Rajamani, Dartunorro Clark, Jeanmarie Evelly, Alexandra Leon, Allegra Hobbs, Carolina Pichardo and Noah Hurowitz.
