Nation

Judge bars BLM from suing Trump over Lafayette Square clash

Published

6 months ago

June 22, 2021

Staff Writer

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By Jenny Goldsberry

District of Columbia Judge Dabney L. Friedrich released her ruling Monday that Black Lives Matter cannot sue former President Trump over police clearing Lafayette Square a year ago. The ruling also applies to former Attorney General William Barr. Friedrich was appointed by then President Trump in 2017.

The lawsuit against Trump comes from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) representing BLM. But now it has stopped in its tracks because Friedrich says police cleared the square out of “national security considerations.”

“First, national security—specifically, the country’s national-security interest in the safety and security of the President and the area surrounding the White House—strongly weighs against creating a . . . remedy here,” her decision read.

“In this context, it matters not whether the national security risk actually justified the particular action taken,” the judge wrote. Instead, the real question is about “whether ‘national-security concerns’ were present in the decision-making process the federal officials faced and thus ‘whether the Judiciary should alter the framework established by the political branches for addressing [similar] cases.'”

However, there must still be current national security concerns because Lafayette Square is still on a significant lockdown.

“To this day, over a year after the events of June 1, Lafayette Square remains subject to heightened restrictions that periodically limit protesters’ access to the Square,” Friedrich reminded readers in her decision.

You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism

Nation

Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban Buys Entire Texas Town

‘No Plans Yet’, Cuban Says About His Purchase of Abandoned Texas Town of Mustang

Published

5 hours ago

December 6, 2021

Staff Writer

Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images

Forget becoming Mayor of a town, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is now the owner of a town. Cuban reportedly purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas. The town is virtually abandoned with no current residents, “and it’s been several years since the last two businesses, Wispers Cabaret strip club and Lion’s Den adult bookstore, operated” reports NBC News.

In a brief email explaining the purchase to NBC News on Friday, Cuban wrote “did it to help out a friend. No plans yet!” The town of Mustang is roughly 65 miles south of American Airlines Center, the home of the Dallas Mavericks.

According to Mike Turner, president of Dallas real estate firm J. Elmer Turner, the town had been for sale on the market about four years, listed after the principal owner Marty Price became ill and decided to sell.

Price was an attorney who died this past August; a devoted basketball fan with Mavericks floor seats. “Mark Cuban stepped up, and it was a natural for him to buy it” Turner told NBC News. “With his resources and imagination, I’m sure there are endless possibilities.”

Turner did not reveal the final sales price but admitted it closed last month for less than the $4 million asking price. Jerry Newsom, chief of the volunteer fire department in the neighboring town of Angus, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth “we’re excited to have him as our neighbor here, and we’re excited for the growth and the potential it has.”