Tag Archives: antigay

US imposes visa restrictions for some Ugandans following adoption of anti-gay law – The Associated Press

  1. US imposes visa restrictions for some Ugandans following adoption of anti-gay law The Associated Press
  2. Visa Restrictions for Undermining the Democratic Process in Uganda – United States Department of State Department of State
  3. US restricts Ugandan officials travel in wake of anti-LGBTQ law Al Jazeera English
  4. Elizabeth Shackelford: Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ law creates problem for the US Chicago Tribune
  5. Opinion: Uganda’s death sentence for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is outrageous. Here’s the smart way to fight it CNN
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Bellingham’s Madrid path and Mexico’s anti-gay chants vs. U.S. – ESPN – ESPN

  1. Bellingham’s Madrid path and Mexico’s anti-gay chants vs. U.S. – ESPN ESPN
  2. A WARNING SHOT⁉ Toni Kroos mocks Eden Hazard after Jude Bellingham’s arrival | ESPN FC ESPN UK
  3. Jude Bellingham’s ‘never-before-seen’ transformation into €103m Real Madrid Galactico has wowed Dortmund team-mate Marius Wolf as he reveals shock at England midfielder’s incredible rise Goal.com
  4. “Proudest Day Of My Life!” | Jude Bellingham Unveiled As Real Madrid Player Sky Sports Football
  5. Jude Bellingham was impressive at his Real Madrid unveiling. The setting was much less so The Athletic
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Jussie Smollett trial: Prosecution rests after brothers testify the actor directed them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack

Abimbola “Bola” Osundairo and his brother Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo provided critical testimony on Wednesday and Thursday in Smollett’s criminal trial on charges that he staged the attack and falsely reported it to police.

The prosecution rested Thursday evening after three days of testimony in which it called seven witnesses, including the brothers.

Ola Osundairo told jurors that Smollett “had this crazy idea of having two MAGA supporters attack him,” and that he wanted “to put that on social media.”

“Mr. Smollett asked you to fake attack him?” Deputy Special Prosecutor Sam Mendenhall asked.

“Yes,” Ola Osundairo responded.

“Pretending to be Trump supporters?” Mendenhall continued.

“Yes,” Ola Osundairo said.

“So he could then post it on social media?” the prosecutor continued.

“Yes,” Ola Osundairo answered.

He said that Bola was tasked with hitting Smollett, while Smollett wanted Ola to put a noose around his neck and pour gasoline on him. They ultimately changed gasoline to bleach because, Ola Osundairo said, “I wasn’t comfortable pouring gasoline on somebody.”

Smollett, who is Black and gay, has said two men struck him, yelled anti-gay and racist remarks, put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him on a frigid night in Chicago in January 2019. Police initially investigated the incident as a possible hate crime and poured significant resources into solving the case and locating the two men.
But after interviewing them and finding other evidence, authorities instead determined that Smollett paid the men $3,500 to stage the hate crime against him so he could get publicity and a career boost.

Smollett has pleaded not guilty to six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false reports to police that he was a victim of a hate crime. His defense attorney said in opening statements he is a real victim and the men saw the actor as a “mark” or “target.”

Thursday’s session got heated and defense attorneys called for a mistrial. One of the lawyers alleged Judge James Linn lunged at her, and another said the judge was making facial expressions.

It began when the judge interjected as attorney Tamara Walker repeatedly pressed Ola Osundairo on his use of homophobic words, such as when he referred to a musician friend as a “fruity ass.” Linn angrily instructed Walker to move on from her line of “collateral” questioning.

The defense has suggested during the trial that homophobia may have been a motive in a real hate crime attack that night.

In a heated exchange, Walker asked the judge for a sidebar, which he denied at first. After the defense for a second time requested a meeting outside of earshot of the jury, Linn sent the panel out of the room.

Walker and her defense team requested a mistrial.

As the exchange between the judge and the defense quickly escalated, Walker became emotional, at one point sobbing as she paced around a table, claiming Linn was not allowing her to continue a line of questioning that was critical to the defense’s case.

Walker also claimed Linn lunged at her while at the sidebar, something Linn vehemently denied.

“When you said the word mistrial, and I know you have some pressures here, I’m stunned that you would consider a mistrial,” Linn said. “Ms. Walker, there were objections that had to be sustained and I was trying to get back on point.”

“Just because you think you were allowed to go one way, we’re all just doing our jobs,” Linn told Walker.

“There will be no mistrial,” he told the stunned courtroom.

Defense attorney Heather Widell also addressed the judge, stating, “I would also like to go on the record that there are facial objections coming from the bench when there are objections.”

“You’re great at facial expressions,” Linn shot back.

Court ended Thursday night after the defense calling its own witnesses.

Defense sharply questions Bola Osundairo

The brothers delivered the core testimony of the case, stating plainly that the attack was always intended to be fake.

Bola Osundairo was the first of the two brothers to testify, speaking in court on Wednesday and Thursday. He told the court that Smollett “wanted me to fake beat him up,” and he agreed to do so because he felt indebted to the actor.

“I believed he could help further my acting career,” Osundairo testified. “He told me that we would need another person to fake beat him up. He mentioned could my brother do it. I said yes.”

The actor directed them to say “Empire, f****t, n***er, MAGA,” fake punch him, pour bleach on him and then run away, he testified.

“Who was in charge of this thing?” Webb asked.

“Jussie was,” Bola Osundairo told the jury.

The man also said Smollett first explained the plan to him in a car where Smollett was smoking marijuana.

“Even though he’s smoking you still think he’s serious?” asked defense attorney Shay Allen.

“He sounded serious,” Bola Osundairo responded.

Osundairo said Smollett “wanted to use the fake attack or camera footage for media.” He testified that while he didn’t expect payment for helping Smollett stage the attack, the actor still gave him a check for $3,500.

In cross-examination, Allen accused Bola Osundairo of having a desire to work security for Smollett and that it became a growing point of tension. Osundairo testified he didn’t remember.

“You attacked Jussie because you wanted to scare him into hiring you,” accused Allen, to which Osundairo responded, “No.”

However, special prosecutor Dan Webb asked whether Smollett ever talked about security at all while this “fake attack” was being hatched and Osundairo responded, “No.”

Testimony grew tense at times as Allen asked whether Bola Osundairo had a sexual relationship with Smollett, which he denied, and how he could not have expected the police to get involved if the media attention on the story grew, as Smollett allegedly planned.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Bola Osundairo said.

“We finally agree on something,” Allen responded.

During re-direct examination, Webb honed in on the timing of the alleged hoax on one of the coldest nights in Chicago. “If you had not had advanced discussions with Jussie Smollett how would you know where he would be at 2 a.m. in a polar vortex?”

“I wouldn’t,” Osundairo responded.

Later, Ola Osundairo testified the brothers had at one point contemplated leaving if the actor didn’t show up.

“It was super cold that night. I was freezing the whole time we were out there,” he said. “My brother saw him and that’s when we continued to approach him.”

Osundairo said that’s when he put the rope over Smollett’s head and poured bleach on him, while trying not to get bleach on Smollett’s face to avoid injuring the actor.

Defense witness says Smollett sounded panicked

The first witness called by the defense described what he heard as he talked to Smollett during the encounter.

Brandon Moore, Smollett’s former music manager, said he heard “something something MAGA country,” then what sounded like scuffling.

“Jussie said, ‘Yo, I just got jumped,’ ” Moore told the court.

Smollett sounded panicked and out of breath, Moore testified.

During cross-examination, deputy special prosecutor Sean Wieber pointed out, “You couldn’t see how hard the punches landed,” and “you did not witness what happened to Mr. Smollett,” to which Moore responded, “Correct.”

The defense also called an emergency medicine physician who examined Smollett after the alleged attack and Smollett’s publicist at the time, Pamela Sharp.

The prosecution said in its opening statement that Smollett orchestrated the attack for publicity and a career boost. Sharp testified that Smollett earned between $100,000 and $125,000 per episode — about $2 million for a season.

The judge ended the day by telling jurors not to come back until Monday, when they might hear closing arguments and begin deliberating.

CNN’s Omar Jimenez and Bill Kirkos reported from Chicago and CNN’s Eric Levenson reported and wrote from New York. CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

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MLS-Liga MX All-Star game halted after anti-gay chant

Fans at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles used a homophobic chant just minutes into the first MLS-Liga MX All-Star game on Wednesday night. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The new joint MLS-Liga MX All-Star game kicked off on Wednesday night in Los Angeles with tremendous fanfare and a sold out crowd at the Banc of California Stadium.

The game, however, made it just 10 minutes before officials had to stop play due to an anti-gay chant.

The from Mexican soccer and the global game for years. The sport’s governing body has a three-step plan in place for when officials hear a chant during play, starting with a game stoppage and a verbal warning. The second step is to suspend the game and move players off the field, and the third step is to end the match completely.

The Mexican Soccer Federation again this season, but fans have been belting it out at most of the Mexican men’s national team games in 2021. The team will have to play one of its qualifying games for the 2022 World Cup in an empty stadium because of it, too, after .

Other than the stoppage, the All-Star Game seemed to be a success. The MLS team beat the Liga MX team in penalty kicks in front of more than 22,000 fans in Southern California after FC Dallas’ Ricardo Pepi hit the game winning goal.

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Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell apologizes for anti-gay remark in college

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Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez break down the Detroit Lions hiring Dan Campbell as their new head coach on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said he regretted the anti-gay remark he made when he was a college student during his introductory news conference Thursday and apologized for the comments.

Campbell was a 22-year-old senior at Texas A&M when he spoke at a pep rally for about 40,000 fans before a game against rival Texas in 1998. After expressing hatred for the Longhorns, Campbell said he was proud to attend a university where “men like women and women like men.”

A local newspaper published an apology from Campbell in the days after the event.

[ Dan Campbell: News conference has everyone ready to run through a wall ]

“I offended some people, and I’m sorry for that,” Campbell told the paper, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. “It was heat of the moment. It’s not necessarily that I directed it at anyone.”

Campbell, 44, said Thursday that he quickly regretted making the comments.

“Yeah, look it was a bonfire comment,” Campbell said during a conference call. “Texas was — I went to Texas A&M but it was a rivalry game for us. And so you’re in front of the student body. I was 22 years old and I made a comment about, you know — well, I made a comment I shouldn’t have made is exactly what it was. And at the time I was, ‘Oh, man, this is, you know’ — I thought it was something exciting.

“And I remember I got home and who is now my wife, my fiancée at the time, was like, ‘Oh, my God. What have you done?’ But she was right. It slapped me right in the face after I had talked to her. And look, I’ve apologized for it and it was something — I was young and I wish I wouldn’t have said it. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have. But, you know, here we are and it’s out there and all I can do is apologize for it.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: What Campbell’s playing days say about his Lions future: He’s ‘tough as nails’

As the Lions began their search for a general manager and head coach, team president Rod Wood outlined some criteria and said the organization would look for candidates who would instill a culture that is open and inclusive.

“I won’t share all of them with you,” Wood told reporters Jan. 5, “but I would say they focus on leadership, culture, teamwork, awareness of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And what we’re really looking for is a culture that is open, inclusive, where everybody is pulling together as a team and, in one word, communication is paramount and everybody is doing the right thing for the Detroit Lions.”

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

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Coach Dan Campbell used colorful language to describe what the Detroit Lions’ identity will be, saying we’ll ”bite a kneecap off,” Jan. 21, 2021.

Wochit

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