Nation

GOP Rep. Tiffany Calls for WI Gov. To Resign After State Senator Assaulted During Riot

Published

1 year ago

June 24, 2020

Staff Writer

Protests in Madison, Wisconsin got out of hand Tuesday night as State Senator Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee was assaulted and two statues were torn down by rioters. The chaotic events at the capitol led to U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany, R-WI, to call for the Governor Evers’ resignation.

I took this pic- it got me assaulted & beat up. Punched/kicked in the head, neck, ribs. Maybe concussion, socked in left eye is little blurry, sore neck & ribs. 8-10 people attacked me. Innocent people are going to get killed. Capitol locked- stuck in office.Stop violence nowPlz! pic.twitter.com/Zw2hdfYG66

— Tim Carpenter (@TimCarpenterMKE) June 24, 2020

“I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head,” Sen. Carpenter told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said this assault “should never be tolerated.”

“I want to be clear: violence against any person — whether in the middle of the street in broad daylight, at home trying to sleep, going for a run, or happening upon a protest as was the case last night — is wrong,” Evers said in a thread posted to Twitter.

I want to be clear: violence against any person—whether in the middle of the street in broad daylight, at home trying to sleep, going for a run, or happening upon a protest as was the case last night—is wrong. It should never be tolerated.

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) June 24, 2020

We also cannot allow ourselves to forget the reason why these protests began: because of the murder of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, of the many Black lives taken before them, and because racism and structural inequality still pervade this country.

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) June 24, 2020

We are assessing the damage to state property, including the State Capitol building, the surrounding area, and the Tommy G. Thompson Center. Both “Forward” and Col. Hans Christian Heg statues have been recovered.

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) June 24, 2020

We are prepared to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to protect state buildings and infrastructure and are continuing to work with local law enforcement to understand their response to last night’s events and their plan to respond to similar events in the future.

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) June 24, 2020

That wasn’t enough for U.S. Rep Tiffany, as he released a statement this morning calling for Evers to step down.

.@GovEvers has demonstrated time and time again that he is unwilling to prevent these unrelenting attacks on our safety, our property and our way of life. His silence is deafening, and his inaction is unacceptable. Enough is enough. https://t.co/vAB8RRw7zM

— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) June 24, 2020

“Americans are alarmed and disgusted by what has now become nearly a month of sustained lawlessness, bedlam, rioting and violence,” Tiffany said in the statement. “Radical extremists and their enablers – including Governor Evers – continue to refer to these outrageous mob tactics as ‘protest.’ They are not. Property damage, destruction and physical assault are not legitimate forms of political discourse. They are criminal acts.”

Tiffany said the attacks were personal and demanded Evers put a cease to the rioting.

“The governor has demonstrated time and time again that he is unwilling to prevent these unrelenting attacks on our safety, our property and our way of life,” Tiffany added. “His silence is deafening, and his inaction is unacceptable. If he cannot or will not regain control of the streets, he should resign immediately. Enough is enough.”

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Nation

Boston Celtics Player Legally Changing Name to ‘Enes Kanter Freedom’ to Celebrate U.S. Citizenship

Published

2 days ago

November 29, 2021

Staff Writer

Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter is celebrating becoming a U.S. citizen in an incredible way. The 29-year-old athlete from Turkey is having his citizenship oath ceremony Monday, and will legally change his name to Enes Kanter Freedom.

Kanter is an outspoken human rights advocate who had his Turkish passport revoked in 2017 after he criticized Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mediaite reports “he has also criticized NBA stars Michael Jordan and LeBron James for not doing enough to help the Black community and not speaking out against exploitative labor practices in China respectively.”

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka told the Boston Globe the team is “all for” the player’s name change. Kanter’s manager says the player will complete his legal name change to have Kanter become his middle name and Freedom be his new last name at Monday’s ceremony.

“We congratulated him as a group for getting his American citizenship last week,” Udoka said. “That’s who Enes is, we’re proud of him. Enes is who he is. He’s passionate about his stances and the name change; you look at [Ron] Artest [who changed his name to Metta Sandiford-Artest in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak] and guys that have done it in the past. It’s something he wants to express and we’re all for it.”

Kanter has already changed his official Twitter account to Enes Kanter FREEDOM with his new last name in all caps. Freedom made waves when he tweeted the following on November 18: Money over Morals for the ‘King’. Sad & disgusting how these athletes pretend they care about social justice. They really do ‘shut up & dribble’ when Big Boss [inserted Chinese flag] says so. Did you educate yourself about the slave labor that made your shoes or is that not part of your research?”

The tweet included photos of basketball shoes he wore painted with human rights depictions and phrases such as “hey still researching and getting educated?” as well as “I am informed and educated on the situation.”

The statement is with regard to his criticism of LeBron James’ partnership with Nike. “Nike remains one of the NBA’s biggest sponsors as both organizations feed off their partnerships with China” reports Mediaite. Kanter Freedom also made an offer to take Michael Jordan and Nike co-founder Phil Knight to China in order for the men to “visit these slave labor camps and you can see it with your own eyes.”