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Kentucky Christmas parade canceled amid threats to protesters calling for Emmett Till accuser’s arrest
CNN
—
Bowling Green, Kentucky, has canceled its annual Christmas parade scheduled for Saturday due to threats against protests related to the notorious lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955.
The city announced the cancellation in tweet. In a video posted on Facebook, Police Chief Michael Delaney said at least three groups planned to protest at noon on Saturday at two locations.
Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower said his office learned of threats late Friday evening “to shoot anyone who is protesting” or assisting protesters, Hightower said.
“At this moment, we have not been able to determine the validity of the threat; however, we believe it’s important to alert our citizens,” the sheriff said.
The protesters want a Mississippi court to order the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman now in her late 80s who accused Till of whistling at her in 1955 in Mississippi, according to CNN affiliate WBKO. He was abducted, tortured, and lynched, in a case that drew national attention and helped galvanize attention on the civil rights movement.
According to WKBO, Donham’s last known address is believed to be an apartment in Bowling Green.
Donham was never arrested in connection with Till’s death, but a warrant for her arrest was found earlier this year in a Mississippi courthouse basement. A grand jury in Mississippi declined to indict Donham in August.
The Bowling Green-Warren County NACCP said it is not slated to protest Saturday.
“This is due in part to safety concerns for the event, as well as focusing our energies on those who are currently being discriminated against and need immediate assistance,” the organization said in a statement last week.
Lala Kent’s ex-fiancé Randall Emmett seen with her look-alike
Lala Kent’s ex-fiancé Randall Emmett is seen outside a Los Angeles bar with a blonde woman who resembles his ex… 10 months after ugly split
Embattled movie producer Randall Emmett was spotted in Los Angeles Thursday with a woman who bore a striking resemblance to his ex-fiancée, Lala Kent.
Emmett, 51, was dressed in his trademark black t-shirt, pants and sneakers outside the Le Fleur Lounge in the West Hollywood area.
His companion was spotted wearing a black leather mini dress with a halter top and low back that displayed her toned arms and legs.
Embattled: Embattled movie producer Randall Emmett was spotted in Los Angeles Thursday with a woman who bore a striking resemblance to his ex-fiancée, Lala Kent
Lala and Randall ended their engagement in October 2021.
Her blonde locks were styled in a loose pony tail.
The outing comes about six weeks after an explosive report in the Los Angeles Times that the The Irishman producer exhibited abusive behavior toward women, assistants and business partners, including allegations he required sexual favors from women in exchange for a part in his films.
The LA Times reported that one woman, who has remained nameless, said she gave the Silence producer ‘massages and oral sex, allowed him to digitally penetrate her and stood nude in his office while he’ pleasured himself over a three year period.
Sex for work: The Irishman producer is being sued by a woman who was told she needed to provide sex for work, and alleges she gave him massages and oral sex, and more during a three year period
Companion: The unknown companion was spotted wearing a black leather mini dress with a halter top and low back that displayed her toned arms and legs. Her blonde locks were styled in a loose pony tail
Allegations: Lala Kent, 31, has accused her ex-fiancé of domestic abuse in a lawsuit. Emmett is also being accused of abusive behavior toward women, assistants and business partners
Another woman claimed he pulled up in his Rolls Royce as she was leaving a bar in 2014, rolled down the window and told her, ‘I’m not a creep, I promise. I’m a movie producer, you can Google me — please Google me.’
He also faces a number of lawsuits accusing him of misrepresentation and civil fraud including one regarding an allegation of exploitation of Bruce Willis on Emmett’s sets, as the actor’s cognitive abilities declined.
Emmett and Willis have made 20 films together, and he directed the actor in 2021’s Midnight in the Switchgrass.
Emmett is also being sued by Kent, 31, for alleged domestic dispute.
Break up: The couple called off their engagement in November 2021. Emmett blames his legal troubles on Kent’s efforts to gain full custody of their daughter, Ocean, born in March 2021
The Vanderpump Rules star and the producer met in 2016, but kept the relationship secret for before going public in 2018, after Emmett’s divorce to You actress Ambyr Childers, 34, with whom he shares two children.
Emmett had a recurring role on the reality show after he and Kent announced their engagement later that year. Their wedding was planned for 2020, but postponed due to the pandemic. The couple welcomed a daughter, Ocean in March 2021.
The split later that year and the break was confirmed in November 2021. Through a spokesperson, Emmett has blamed his current legal troubles on his former flame, who is seeking full custody of their one-year-old.
Emmett Till death: Grand jury declines to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham
A Leflore County grand jury last week heard seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses but said there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, according to a statement from District Attorney Dewayne Richardson.
The grand jury heard the testimony from witnesses detailing the investigation of the case from 2004 to the present day and considered both charges, according to the statement.
“After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Donham’s involvement, the Grand Jury returned a ‘No Bill’ to the charges of both Kidnapping and Manslaughter,” the statement said. “The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continue to be with the family of Emmett Till.”
Family members of Emmett, whose killing in the Jim Crow-era South spurred the civil rights movement in America, said earlier this summer that they had unearthed an unserved arrest warrant for Bryant Donham, her late husband and his brother.
The warrant is dated August 29, 1955, and signed by the Leflore County clerk. The image of the warrant shows the current clerk certified the document as authentic on June 21.
A note on the back of the warrant says Bryant Donham was not arrested because she could not be located at the time, according to the New York Times, which cited filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp, who was part of the team that discovered the warrant. CNN reached out to Bryant Donham at the time but didn’t hear back.
A cousin who witnessed Emmett’s abduction, Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., said Tuesday that state officials have assured the family no stone would be left unturned in the fight for justice.
“They kept their promise by bringing this latest piece of evidence before the grand jury. This outcome is unfortunate, but predictable, news,” he said in the statement. “The prosecutor tried his best, and we appreciate his efforts, but he alone cannot undo hundreds of years of anti-Black systems that guaranteed those who killed Emmett Till would go unpunished, to this day.”
Another cousin, Deborah Watts, said the decision not to indict Bryant Donham was very disappointing but said the family refuses to give up
“We vow that the pursuit of accountability and Justice For Emmett Till will continue,” she said. “Emmett Till’s death will not be in vain. “
While Emmett’s killing remains a touchstone moment in the United States’ long struggle with racial injustice and inequality, to this day, no one has been held criminally responsible.
Emmett, who lived in Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he had his fateful encounter with then-20-year-old Carolyn Bryant in the summer of 1955. Accounts from that day differ, but witnesses alleged Emmett whistled at the woman at the market she owned with her husband in the town of Money.
Four days later, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam later took Emmett from his bed in the middle of the night, ordered him into the back of a pickup and beat him before shooting him in the head and tossing his body into the Tallahatchie River.
But they were both acquitted of murder by an all-White jury following a trial in which Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett grabbed and verbally threatened her. The jury deliberated for barely an hour.
The men later admitted to the killing in a 1956 interview with Look magazine.
Emmett’s death captured attention far beyond Mississippi after a photo of his mutilated body was published in Jet Magazine and spread around the world. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, had demanded he have an open-casket funeral so the entire world could see her son’s injuries and the results of racial terrorism — a decision that helped fuel the civil rights movement.
Milam died in 1980 and Bryant died in 1994. Bryant Donham is in her late 80s.
In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Bryant Donham on charges. And according to archived FBI documents, Milam and Roy Bryant were arrested on a kidnapping charge in 1955, but a grand jury failed to indict them. “The original court, District Attorney, and investigative records related to the 1955 investigation have been apparently lost,” the FBI said in a 2006 report.
Bryant Donham testified in 1955 that Emmett grabbed her hand, her waist and propositioned her, saying he had been with “White women before.” But years later, when professor Timothy Tyson raised that trial testimony in a 2008 interview with Bryant Donham, he claimed she told him, “That part’s not true.”
The prospect that the woman at the center of Emmett’s case had recanted her testimony — which the US Justice Department said in a memo would contradict statements she made during the state trial in 1955 and later to the FBI — sparked calls for authorities to investigate the case anew.
The DOJ, which had already re-examined and closed the case in 2007, reopened the probe into Emmett’s killing in 2018. But the case was closed in December after the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division concluded it could not prove Bryant Donham had lied. When questioned directly, Bryant Donham adamantly denied to investigators that she had recanted her testimony.
Emmett’s legacy, however, lives on: In March, President Joe Biden signed into law the landmark Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which made lynching a federal hate crime.
CNN’s Amy Simonson, Jamiel Lynch, Sara Sidner, Tina Burnside, Dakin Andone, Devon Sayers, Elizabeth Joseph and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
Emmett Till’s family calls for justice after finding an unserved arrest warrant in his case
“I cried. We cried. We hugged,” Deborah Watts, Emmett’s cousin, told CNN of the moment she said members of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation found the warrant in a dusty, dank box in a county courthouse in Greenwood, Mississippi. “Unbelievable. We held each other. Justice has to be served.”
The warrant was discovered last week by a five-member search group led by members of Till’s family, including Deborah Watts and her daughter Terri. An image of the warrant, provided to CNN by the foundation, charged J.W. Milam, Roy Bryant and Bryant’s then-wife — identified in the document as Mrs. Roy Bryant — with kidnapping and orders their arrests. The warrant is dated August 29, 1955, and signed by the Leflore County Clerk.
The two men were acquitted of Emmett’s murder soon after by an all-White jury, though they later admitted to the killing in an interview with Look magazine. Milam died in 1980 and Bryant died in 1994, but his widow — now Carolyn Bryant Donham — is still alive, and Emmett’s family hopes the warrant will lead to her arrest and, ultimately, justice.
“Justice has to be served,” Watts told CNN, adding, “Emmett led us to it. I know that in my heart.”
The image of the warrant shows the current Leflore County clerk certified the document as authentic on June 21. Absent action from law enforcement in light of the finding, the family has considered taking initiative to help bring justice in Emmett’s brutal killing.
“We thought of things like citizen’s arrest,” Watts said. “If the authorities aren’t going to do this, what can we do?” Watts told CNN.
The family believes the warrant serves as new evidence that went decades without being searched for, Watts added, and when it was found, the family was overcome with emotions.
“It was overwhelming. … We were also in a state of shock,” Watts said.
Terri Watts echoed those sentiments: “I had to look at the warrant several times just to make sure that it was real,” she said.
“I definitely want to see it through. But it has been a tremendous amount of trauma. I still feel like the weight is on our shoulders. We found the new evidence, and so we just want justice served,” Terri Watts said.
The discovery of the warrant was first reported by the New York Amsterdam News, one of the nation’s oldest African American publications.
According to The New York Times, an affidavit attached to the warrant said the three “did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and without lawful authority, forcibly seize and confine and kidnap” Emmett, though it misspelled his last name. A note on the back of the warrant says Donham was not arrested because she could not be located at the time, the Times reported, citing filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp, who was part of the team that discovered the warrant.
Neither Donham nor the Leflore County Clerk’s Office have responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Professor claimed Donham recanted testimony that Emmett Till grabbed her
While Emmett’s killing remains a touchstone moment in the United States’ long struggle with racial injustice and inequality, to this day, no one has been held criminally responsible.
The 14-year-old boy from Chicago was visiting family in Mississippi when he had his fateful encounter with then-20-year-old Carolyn Bryant. Accounts from that day differ, but witnesses alleged Emmett whistled at the woman at the market she owned with her husband in Money, Mississippi.
Roy Bryant and Milam later took Emmett from his bed, ordered him into the back of a pickup truck and beat him before shooting him in the head and tossing his body into the Tallahatchie River. But they were both acquitted of murder following a trial in which Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett grabbed and verbally threatened her. The jury deliberated for barely an hour.
In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Donham on charges. And according to archived FBI documents, Milam and Roy Bryant were arrested on a kidnapping charge in 1955, but a grand jury failed to indict them. “The original court, District Attorney, and investigative records related to the 1955 investigation have been apparently lost,” the FBI said in a 2006 report.
Donham testified in 1955 that Emmett grabbed her hand, her waist, and propositioned her, saying he had been with “White women before.” But years later, when professor Timothy Tyson raised that trial testimony in a 2008 interview with Donham, he claimed she told him, “That part’s not true.”
The prospect that the woman at the center of Emmett’s case had recanted her testimony — which the US Justice Department said in a memo would contradict statements she made during the state trial in 1955 and later to the FBI — sparked calls for authorities to investigate the case anew.
The DOJ, which had already re-examined and closed the case in 2007, reopened the probe into Emmett’s killing in 2018. But the case was closed in December after DOJ’s Civil Rights Division concluded it could not prove Donham had lied. When questioned directly, Donham adamantly denied to investigators that she had recanted her testimony.
Emmett’s death captured attention far beyond Mississippi, after a photo of his mutilated body was published in Jet Magazine and spread around the world. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, had demanded he have an open-casket funeral so the entire world could see her son’s injuries and the results of racial terrorism — a decision that helped fuel the civil rights movement.
Emmett’s legacy, however, lives on: In March, President Joe Biden signed into law the landmark Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which made lynching a federal hate crime.
CNN’s Devon Sayers, Elizabeth Joseph and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.
Bruce Willis’ Team Responds to Randall Emmett Accusations
Shedding light on the matter. Bruce Willis’ attorney, Martin Singer, responded to accusations that producer Randall Emmett knew about the Sixth Sense actor’s health issues but continued pushing him to work anyway.
“My client continued working after his medical diagnosis because he wanted to work and was able to do so, just like many others diagnosed with aphasia who are capable of continuing to work,” Singer, 70, told the Los Angeles Times for an article published on Thursday, June 30. “Because Mr. Willis appeared in those films, they could get financed. That resulted in literally thousands of people having jobs, many during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
In March, the 67-year-old Die Hard star’s family announced he was retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a neurological disorder that affects the ability to communicate.
Before his retirement, Willis worked with Emmett, 51, on a number of films, including the producer’s directorial debut, Midnight in the Switchgrass. According to the Los Angeles Times, Emmett told his then-fiancée Lala Kent that the Hard Kill actor was struggling during the movie’s production.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Kent recalled her ex-fiancé telling her in a phone call overheard by two other witnesses. “It’s just so sad. Bruce can’t remember any of his lines. He doesn’t know where he is.”
The Irishman producer denied that he was aware “of any decline in Mr. Willis’ health” in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. The outlet reported that he made five more movies with the Pulp Fiction actor after Midnight in the Switchgrass.
The alleged phone call to Kent took place in September 2020, long before Willis’ health struggles were made public. But according to Alicia Haverland, a property master on Midnight in the Switchgrass, the actor’s condition was an open secret on the film set.
“Our stunt coordinator mentioned he was struggling,” Haverland told the Los Angeles Times. “Our first AD saw he was struggling. You would have to be blind to not see him struggling.”
The outlet reported that multiple crew members witnessed Willis needing significant help to get through scenes, including another actor coaching him on his lines through an earpiece and Emmett miming actions from behind the video monitor.
In addition to concerns about his working relationship with the Moonlighting actor as his health declined, Emmett also currently faces allegations of abuse against women, employees and business partners. His spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister denied these allegations to the Los Angeles Times. The Silence producer and his company, Emmett/Furla Oasis, currently face nearly a dozen lawsuits, according to the outlet.
The day Willis’ family announced his aphasia diagnosis, Emmett took to Instagram to voice his support for the Moonrise Kingdom actor.
“Bruce and I have worked on over 20 films together. He is a terrific actor and legendary action star, an incredible father, and a close friend. I fully support Bruce and his family during this challenging time and admire him for his courage in battling this incredibly difficult medical condition. Bruce will always be a part of my family,” he captioned a candid photo of him with the action star.
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Josh Emmett wants title shot vs. winner of Volkanovski-Holloway
AUSTIN, Texas – Josh Emmett wants next.
The UFC featherweight contender is hoping to get the next title shot in the division following his most recent win in the octagon on Saturday night. Emmett (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) defeated Kattar (23-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in a Fight of the Night performance in the main event of UFC on ESPN 37.
The win over Kattar put Emmett on a five-fight unbeaten run. The 37-year-old believes it’s time the UFC comes calling for a title shot.
“I want that shot,” Emmett told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 37 post-fight press conference. “The No. 2 and 3 guys are phenomenal fighters. They fought the top guys, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. We need some new blood in the division and I know I can compete with them. I’m the best featherweight on this planet, and I’m ready. I want to be sitting cage side in two weeks to see who I’m fighting next.”
Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway are scheduled to fight at UFC 276 on July 2. It’s a trilogy bout, given they’ve fought twice prior, which Volkonovski won both by decision.
Emmett is down to fight either but does feel a fight with Volkanovski would carry more significance.
“It doesn’t really matter, they’re both phenomenal fighters, some of the best featherweights of all time,” Emmett said. “But the way I do see it though, if Volkanovski wins, he solidifies himself as the GOAT for now. If Max were to win, I know Volkanovski won the first one, and it was decisive, but the second one was a little controversial. It was super close, it could’ve gone either way.
“So I think this solidifies who is the best. It doesn’t really matter, but Volkanovski is a phenomenal champion. He’s on a 20-fight something win streak and I think him and I match up really well.”
UFC Fight Night — Josh Emmett wins a five-round thriller, Kevin Holland’s grappling and personality shines
Josh Emmett’s case for a UFC featherweight title shot got a lot stronger on Saturday, as he picked up a split decision over Calvin Kattar.
Emmett (18-2) attacked Kattar (23-6) with winging right hands and body shots, over the course of a back-and-forth five-round fight. All three judges’ scorecards were close. Two officials awarded the 145-pound fight 48-47 to Emmett, who went in as the betting underdog. A third saw it in Kattar’s favor, 48-47. The fight headlined UFC Fight Night in Austin, Texas.
Although the fight was undoubtedly close — producing a wide range of fan scores on social media — Emmett said he was confident about the result. Current champion Alexander Volkanovski is scheduled to defend his belt against Max Holloway at UFC 276 on July 2 in Las Vegas, and Emmett demanded a chance to face the winner.
Okamoto: Emmett edges past Kattar, demands featherweight title shot | Watch Kattar vs. Emmett on ESPN+
UFC Fight Night results
Welterweight: Kevin Holland (23-7 1 NC, 11-4 1 NC UFC) def. Tim Means (31-13-1 1 NC, 14-10 1 NC UFC) by submission (Watch on ESPN+)
Kevin Holland has clearly been working in the gym, and it showed on Saturday. The 29-year-old looked outstanding in a second-round submission of the veteran Tim Means. The finish came at 1:28 of the round, via D’Arce choke.
The finish capped off a sublime performance from start to finish. Holland hurt Means with short punches on the inside, landing uppercuts and right hands in spaces Means traditionally finds his own success. Holland also did well defending Means’ takedown attempts. He did go to the ground at one point in the opening round, but worked his way back up immediately.
A straight right hand wobbled Means about 90 seconds into the second round, and as he attempted to clinch up, Holland jumped on the neck and produced a quick tap. It’s his second win in two appearances since dropping from middleweight to the welterweight division.
“I’m not trying to be cocky, I think I can submit anyone in the world,” Holland said. “I guess Sean Brady really needs an opponent. I’m down for that. I hear he wants to fight in August. I was thinking September. Sean, if we can figure something out, that would be my third fight this year, and I’d still have time for two more.”
Brady (15-0) is currently the No. 9 ranked welterweight. In a recent interview with ESPN, he campaigned for a fight against Belal Muhammad, but specifically mentioned Holland as a possible alternative. Holland is now 2-0 in the welterweight division after going winless in three matches at middleweight. Since the start of 2019, Holland’s nine wins are the most in the promotion, breaking a tie with former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira,
Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley (15-4, 5-2 UFC) def. Albert Duraev (15-4, 2-1 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
A bout between two former teammates produced a lopsided result, as Buckley thoroughly dominated Duraev on the feet — hurting him multiple times en route to a doctor’s stoppage after the second round.
Duraev, of Russia, went into the bout with a lot of confidence in his ability to out-wrestle Buckley, but that is not what played out in the cage. Buckley did a tremendous job keeping the fight standing, where he staggered Duraev with a left kick to the head and closed his right eye with straight left hands. Duraev finished the second round hunched over on his knees demoralized. A cageside physician stopped it moments later.
“More than anything in that fight I wanted to show my wrestling defense,” Buckley said. “He took me down a couple times but he was supposed to hold me down. I got my ass back up and we got fighting again.”
It’s a nice result for Buckley, who was a clear betting underdog in the bout. He has now won five of his last six. Duraev suffers his first loss since 2014.
Lightweight: Damir Ismagulov (24-1, 5-0 UFC) def. Guram Kutateladze (12-3, 1-1 UFC) by split decision (Watch on ESPN+)
The winning streak continues for Ismagulov, as the lightweight has now won all five of his matches in the UFC and 19 straight overall across various MMA promotions. Ismagulov joins an impressive list of lightweights who started 5-0 in the UFC: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Nate Diaz, Benson Henderson and Gregor Gillespie. Ismagulov’s five-fight active winning streak at lightweight is tied with Rafael Fiziev, Claudio Puelles and Arman Tsarukyan for the longest in the division.
Ismagulov’s win was a close one, as Kutateladze met every physical challenge presented within the Octagon. Both landed nearly the same amount of significant strikes, 79-78, in Ismagulov’s favor, as Ismagulov found success by targeting the head with 63 landed strikes to the area while Kutateladze landed 48 significant strikes to the body and legs.
Kutateladze sees his nine-fight win streak snapped with the loss. This was Kutateladze’s first UFC match in 20 months, when he won his first UFC bout against Mateusz Gamrot by split decision.
Middleweight: Gregory Rodrigues (12-4, 3-2 UFC) def. Julian Marquez (9-3, 4-2 UFC) by knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
The first-round knockouts kept rolling in at UFC Austin, as Rodrigues defeated Marquez with multiple punches to the head that his opponent couldn’t recover from. In his fifth UFC fight, Rodrigues scored three knockdowns on Saturday after not being able to earn one in his first four.
In fact, this is his first 1st-round KO since he won the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) middleweight title in May 2021. That win earned him an opportunity to fight in the UFC, and the win over Marquez is putting the rest of the division on notice that “Robocop” is ready for more.
Marquez’s loss to Rodrigues ended a two-fight winning streak, as he was initially prepared to face Wellington Turman on Saturday. However, Turman had to withdraw due to an orbital bone injury and was replaced by Rodrigues.
Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez (16-3, 6-0 UFC) def. Tony Kelley (8-3, 2-2 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Yanez put on a striking clinic in front of his fellow Texans in Austin, as he floored Kelley in the first round and used effective ground and pound until the referee called the fight. Yanez has now won his first five fights in the UFC after winning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Yanez, 28, fights out of Houston and has finished everyone he’s faced thus far in a UFC-promoted fight. The bantamweight division is one of the toughest in the UFC, but Yanez is tied for the third longest active winning streak in the division along with TJ Dillashaw and Jack Shore. At this rate, a ranked challenger should be in his immediate future.
Kelley, whose loss to Yanez snapped a two-fight winning streak, came to weigh-ins 1.5 pounds over the non-title bantamweight limit. Therefore, Yanez’s win will qualify as a catchweight bout and Kelley will forfeit 20% of his purse to Yanez.
Women’s Flyweight: Natalia Silva (13-5-1, 1-0 UFC) def. Jasmine Jasudavicius (7-2, 2-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch on ESPN+)
It’s been 901 days since Silva last fought in MMA, and in her UFC debut she earned a big victory over Jasudavicius in Austin. The unanimous decision win came in upset fashion for Silva, as she landed 81 more strikes (120-39) than her opponent while tallying two takedowns during the fight.
Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells (11-2 1 NC, 3-0 UFC) def. Court McGee (22-11, 10-10 UFC) by knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
“I visualized this,” Wells said after his first-round knockout of McGee at UFC Austin. Wells has now won five in a row, three by knockout and two by submission. Wells is 3-0 in the UFC and will look to take on a bigger challenge in his next fight. For McGee, this is just the second time he has been finished in 33 career MMA fights. Santiago Ponzinibbio was the last to finish him, when he was knocked out over six years ago.
Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos (16-4, 7-3 UFC) def. Danny Chavez (11-5-1, 1-2-1 UFC) by knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Ramos wasted little time against Chavez with a first-round spinning elbow knockout. It’s Ramos’ first first-round knockout since April 2015 and his fourth career knockout in 16 career wins. There have been just five spinning elbow knockouts in UFC history, and Ramos now has two of them, the first coming against Aiemann Zahabi in the third round of their fight in Nov. 2017.
Women’s Strawweight: Maria Oliveira (13-5, 1-2 UFC) def. Gloria de Paula (6-5, 2-3 UFC) by split decision (Watch on ESPN+)
Oliveira and de Paula put on a three-round showcase with “Spider Girl” emerging victorious as two of the three judges leaned her way for the decision. Oliveira, who entered as a +210 underdog, earned her first win in the UFC after losing in her debut to Tabatha Ricci.
Related: How ‘the best party crasher ever’ Maria Oliveira became friends with pop star Anitta
Bantamweight: Cody Stamann (20-5-1, 6-4-1 UFC) def. Eddie Wineland (24-16-1, 11-12 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
It took Stamann just 59 seconds to knock out Wineland on Saturday with an impressive first-round performance. Stamann snapped a three-fight losing streak with the victory, and earned his first win by finish in the UFC.
Middleweight: Phil Hawes (12-3, 5-2 UFC) def. Deron Winn (7-3, 2-3 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Hawes put on an absolute show in Austin as he finished Winn with a second-round TKO. Hawes has now won eight of his past nine, and found success with a bevy of technical strikes from distance and elbows on the inside. Hawes outlanded Winn by 86 strikes (118-32) on Saturday, the fourth-most in UFC middleweight history.
Middleweight: Roman Dolidze (10-1, 4-1 UFC) def. Kyle Daukaus (11-3 1 NC, 3-3 1 NC UFC) by knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Dolidze opened the card in style with a first-round knockout over Daukaus. Dolidze was a +210 underdog coming to win with +800 odds to win by knockout according to Caesars Sportsbook. Six of his eight career finishes have come via first-round knockout.
Emmett Till killing: Justice Department closes investigation after failing to prove key witness lied
In 2017, Professor Timothy Tyson unearthed what appeared to be a key piece of evidence in one of the most haunting and grisly murders of the Jim Crow Era: a recantation from the woman at the center of the case who had accused Till of making sexual advances at her over 60 years ago.
Yet after an exhaustive investigation, the Justice Department has now concluded it cannot prove the woman lied to federal investigators.
Fourteen-year-old Till was visiting family in Mississippi in 1955 — the scene of his fateful encounter with then-20-year-old Carolyn Bryant Donham. Witness accounts from that day differ, but witnesses alleged that Till whistled at Donham as she left the market she ran with her husband. Donham testified that Till grabbed her hand and propositioned her, saying that he had been with “white women before.” Yet when that trial testimony was raised with her in a 2008 interview — Tyson claimed Donham told him: “That part’s not true.”
The explosive claim set off a firestorm of calls for re-opening the cold case. The Justice Department had already re-opened the case once and concluded in 2007 that no one could be prosecuted at the federal level based on the evidence available and the statute of limitations.
Armed with Tyson’s new claims, federal investigators once again spoke to Donham.
The goal, sources familiar with the investigation say, was to determine if Donham actually recanted her previous testimony, and if so, what other evidence she might be willing to provide that could shed light on her role in the killing or in identifying others who might be culpable.
Yet when questioned directly, Donham adamantly denied to investigators that she had recanted her testimony.
Sources say that the critical statements Tyson attributed to Donham were not recorded or transcribed, and he gave authorities inconsistent statements on whether a recording had ever been made. Tyson took some notes of their conversation, but he did not provide a firm timeline of when her confession reportedly happened.
When reached for comment via email, Tyson provided a lengthy statement, standing by his story.
“My reporting is rock solid,” Tyson said in a statement to CNN. “Carolyn Bryant denies it and avoids talking about it like it was the plague. I am standing in the public square telling the truth as I see it based on solid evidence.”
While witness accounts and memories differ as to Till and Donham’s interaction on the day in question — ultimately the 14-year-old Black teen was kidnapped, tortured, and killed at the hands of two White men who were prosecuted in state court and acquitted by an all-White jury. The men later admitted to the killing in an interview with Look magazine and are now dead.
Donham could not be immediately reached for comment.
The end to the notorious case’s latest chapter is likely to leave Till’s remaining family members with more questions than answers. The image of his mutilated body, first published in Jet Magazine at his mother’s request, was seared into the minds of many as one of the enduring images of the civil rights era.
Justice Department officials, including the head of the Civil Rights Division, Kristen Clarke, flew to Chicago on Monday to brief Till’s remaining family members in person on what the investigators had found and the decision to close the case, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department is expected to release a formal “closing memo” explaining the evidence investigators reviewed and its conclusions in detail Monday.
This story has been updated with additional reporting Monday.
‘I got the f**k out’: Lala Kent breaks her silence on Randall Emmett cheating allegations
Lala Kent says her ‘head was in the sand’ as she breaks her silence on ex-fiance Randall Emmett and cheating allegations: ‘I don’t know how the f**k I didn’t see a lot of this s**t’
Lala Kent admitted to having her ‘head in the sand’ with regards to warning signs throughout the course of her five-year relationship with Randall Emmett.
The 31-year-old Vanderpump Rules star opened up about the October split from her ex-fiance, 50, and the cheating allegations for the first time on a Wednesday episode of her Give Them Lala podcast.
‘I don’t know how the f**k I didn’t see a lot of this s**t,’ she confessed as she touched on his rumored infidelity, before divulging why she ultimately decided to ‘get the f**k out’ of the relationship.
Head in the sand: Lala Kent confessed to having her ‘head in the sand’ for a long time with regards to ex-fiance Randall Emmett as she broke her silence about the now defunct relationship and those cheating allegations on her Give Them Lala podcast
Kent referenced the alleged cheating for the first time publicly after previously sharing on her podcast (which now no longer includes Randall) that she would ‘open up and share’ when she felt ‘more comfortable.’
‘I found out about the pictures of his name we shall not mention, and the Nashville girls,’ she explained on the podcast adding that it was the reason she decided to change her tattoo which read ‘Rand’ to ‘bRand new’ on the day of her book signing.
In mid-October the Irishman producer had reportedly cheated on Lala during a work trip to Nashville, Tennessee while she remained at home with their seven-month old daughter Ocean.
Moving on: ‘Unfortunately, for me, my head has been in the sand,’ Kent said alluding to possible warning sings as she said: ‘I don’t know how the f**k I didn’t see a lot of this s**t’; pictured recording her podcast episode December 1
Before the breakup: The former pair who share seven-month old daughter Ocean were last pictured out together on September 9
‘Unfortunately, for me, my head has been in the sand,’ Kent said about being oblivious to warning signs without elaborating. ‘I don’t know how the f**k I didn’t see a lot of this s**t.’
And she continued to say that she was ‘grateful’ to have realized the cracks in the relationship when she did before revealing how she knew it was time to call it quits.
‘I had my head in the sand for a really long time, but I’m grateful no matter what. What’s five years and some change versus what I would’ve been in.’
‘The second that I felt unsafe — I said this in therapy — I said, “The second I get a pit in my stomach, it’ll be a different conversation.” I got that pit and I got the f**k out,’ she explained. ‘No questions asked. Buh-bye.’
‘bRand new’: ‘I found out about the pictures of his name we shall not mention, and the Nashville girls,’ she explained on the podcast adding that it was the reason she decided to change her tattoo which read ‘Rand’ to ‘brand new’ on the day of her book signing; new tattoo pictured above
Additionally she teased how she would handle the hard questions with regards to her personal life on the upcoming Vanderpump Rules reunion.
‘You know there are certain things that can be discussed. And there are certain things that go a little deeper that I will answer to the best of my ability.’
Amid the cheating allegations Lala had deleted all evidence of him off her Instagram, and shared a video of herself temporarily moving into the Beverly Hills Hotel set to a Beyonce song with lyrics about cheating.
Days later she was spotted without her engagement ring as well as photographed viewing condos for she and her daughter to move into, eventually settling on a place where they celebrated their first Thanksgiving.
A source told Page Six of the Midnight In The Switchgrass producer: ‘Randall always lives a double life. He lives the life of a husband or boyfriend, and then he lives the life of a serial partier and then goes on a bender.’
Former couple: The former lovebirds pictured July 2021
Intuition: Kent also divulged on her podcast that she would answer questions about her relationship ‘to the best of her ability’ on the upcoming Vanderpump Rules reunion and that it was ‘hard’ for her to watch back the current season; pictured with Randall on Vanderpump Rules November 9 ep