Starting5: Diddy's Trial, Target Boycott, Atlanta Dream, and Essence Festival 2025
Welcome to Starting5, your daily rundown of five ATL news items that should be on your radar or in your group chat. Our morning primer covering culture, politics, sports, and more, is your cheat sheet on what's buzzing in the A.
Today marks the eighth day of Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial, and horrific allegations have dominated entertainment news cycles from the start. Last week, singer and fashion model Cassie Ventura testified against her ex-boyfriend Combs, accusing him of physical, emotional, and financial abuse. CNN reports that a male exotic dancer nicknamed 'The Punisher' testified Tuesday that Combs regularly paid him to have sex with Ventura as he watched and directed. Rapper Kid Cudi is expected to take the stand this week and perhaps corroborate Ventura's testimony about Combs allegedly threatening to blow up Cudi's car after learning they were romantically involved, according to Rolling Stone.
Pastor Jamal Bryant is turning up the heat on his call to boycott Target. The Atlanta-born movement that has been imploring consumers to avoid the retailer since March 5 is now bringing the nationwide protest to the front doors of their stores on May 25, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The boycott is blowback for Target's withdrawal from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives pledged to the Black community after Floyd was murdered in 2020. And it could be making an impact: The Associated Press reported that the corporation fell short of projected 2025 first quarter net sales by $380 million. Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, said in a video posted to Facebook that his congregation will assemble outside a Target store in Conyers on Sunday at noon for nine minutes and 40 seconds — to symbolize the length of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin fatally kneeled on Floyd's neck.
Keisha Lance Bottoms is back like she left something behind. The former Atlanta mayor announced Tuesday she is officially running for governor next year, seeking to replace Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited. Bottoms, who joins Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves and Republican Attorney General Chris Carr in the gubernatorial race, told Capital B Atlanta that her reason for returning to local politics after deciding not to run for mayoral reelection in 2022 is, in part, 'fighting back' against President Donald Trump. 'I'll work with Trump where I can work with Trump,' she said of her intentions if she's elected. 'I won't hesitate to push back on policies that are harmful to people across Georgia. I've been in battle with him before, so I'm not afraid to do it again.' Check back with Capital B Atlanta to read more about Bottoms' stance on issues most important to Black Atlanta voters.
The 2025 performance lineup that Essence Festival of Culture announced last month was stacked, but with Tuesday's reveal of additional entertainers, the star power is even more luminous. Erykah Badu, Babyface, SWV, Dru Hill, Ari Lennox, Jill Scott, Jazmine Sullivan, Patti LaBelle, and many others will be gracing the stage July 3-6 at New Orleans' Caesar Superdome. They're joining a slate that already includes Atlanta's own Summer Walker, Nas, Maxwell, The Isley Brothers, Davido, Buju Banton, Boyz II Men, and N'awlins native Master P, who will be joined by his group No Limit Soldiers for what is being billed as his final performance.
The new-look Atlanta Dream clocked its first win of the young 2025 WNBA season Tuesday night, cooling off the Indiana Fever in a 91-90 heater at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis that went down to the wire. New Dream recruit Brittney Griner put up 21 points to lead her team in scoring, paired with 20 from Rhyne Howard — just enough to withstand a fourth-quarter flurry by Caitlin Clark, who notched 27 points and 11 assists. Both teams have a 1-1 record following last night's contest, so Thursday's rematch at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park will be a hot ticket!
The post Starting5: Diddy's Trial, Target Boycott, Atlanta Dream, and Essence Festival 2025 appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
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Legislation supporting immigrants takes a variety of forms Democratic-led states are pursuing a wide range of means to protect immigrants. A new Oregon law bars landlords from inquiring about the immigration status of tenants or applicants. New laws in Washington declare it unprofessional conduct for bail bond agents to enforce civil immigration warrants, prohibit employers from using immigration status to threaten workers and let employees use paid sick leave to attend immigration proceedings for themselves or family members. Vermont last month repealed a state law that let law enforcement agencies enter into immigration enforcement agreements with federal authorities during state or national emergencies. They now need special permission from the governor to do so. As passed by the House, Maryland legislation also would have barred local governments from reaching immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government. That provision was removed in the Senate following pushback from some of the seven Maryland counties that currently have agreements. The final version, which took effect as law at the start of June, forbids public schools and libraries from granting federal immigration authorities access to nonpublic areas without a judicial warrant or 'exigent circumstances.' Maryland Del. Nicole Williams said residents' concerns about Trump's immigration policies prompted her to sponsor the legislation. 'We believe that diversity is our strength, and our role as elected officials is to make sure that all of the residents within our community — regardless of their background — feel safe and comfortable,' Williams said. 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Yahoo
an hour ago
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Riot police, anti-ICE protesters square off in Los Angeles after raids
By Jane Ross and Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Helmeted police in riot gear turned out on Friday evening in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody. Live Reuters video showed Los Angeles Police Department officers lined up on a downtown street wielding batons and what appeared to be tear gas rifles, facing off with demonstrators after authorities had ordered crowds of protesters to disperse around nightfall. Early in the standoff, some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers, and police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray. Police also fired "flash-bang" concussion rounds. It was not clear whether there were any immediate arrests. An LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, told Reuters that police on the scene had declared an unlawful assembly, meaning that those who failed to leave the area were subject to arrest. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted several locations, including a Home Depot in the city's Wetlake District, an apparel store in the Fashion District and a clothing warehouse in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles City News Service (CNS). CNS and other local media reported dozens of people were taken into custody during the raids, the latest in a series of such sweeps conducted in a number of cities as part of President Donald Trump's extensive crackdown on illegal immigration. The Republican president has vowed to arrest and deport undocumented migrants in record numbers. The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement action. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and massed outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were believed to be held. Impromptu demonstrations had also erupted at some of the raid locations earlier in the day. One organized labor executive, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union of California, was injured and detained by ICE at one site, according to an SEIU statement. The union said Huerta was arrested "while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity." No details about the nature or severity of Huerta's injury were given. It was not clear whether he was charged with a crime. ICE did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for information about its enforcement actions or Huerta's detention. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement condemning the immigration raids, saying, "these tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city."
an hour ago
Former DC police officer sentenced to 18 months for lying about leaking info to Proud Boys leader
WASHINGTON -- A retired police officer was sentenced on Friday to serve 18 months behind bars for lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the Proud Boys extremist group's former top leader, who was under investigation for burning a Black Lives Matter banner in the nation's capital. Shane Lamond was a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., when he fed information about its banner burning investigation to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio. Last December, after a trial without a jury, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., convicted Lamond of one count of obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements. Tarrio attended Lamond's sentencing and later called for Trump to pardon Lamond. 'I ask that the Justice Department and the President of the United States step in and correct the injustice that I just witnessed inside this courtroom," Tarrio said outside the courthouse after the sentencing. Prosecutors recommended a four-year prison sentence for Lamond. 'Because Lamond knew what he did was wrong, he lied to cover it up — not just to the Federal Agents who questioned his actions, but to this Court," they wrote. "This is an egregious obstruction of justice and a betrayal of the work of his colleagues at MPD.' Lamond's lawyers argued that a prison sentence isn't warranted. "Mr. Lamond gained nothing from his communications with Mr. Tarrio and only sought, albeit in a sloppy and ineffective way, to gain information and intelligence that would help stop the violent protesters coming to D.C. in late 2020, early 2021," they wrote. Tarrio pleaded guilty to burning the banner stolen from a historic Black church in downtown Washington in December 2020. He was arrested two days before dozens of Proud Boys members stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio wasn't at the Capitol that day, but a jury convicted him of orchestrating a violent plot to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election. Lamond testified at his bench trial that he never provided Tarrio with sensitive police information. Tarrio, who testified as a witness for Lamond's defense, said he did not confess to Lamond about burning the banner and did not receive any confidential information from him. But the judge did not find either man's testimony to be credible. Jackson said the evidence indicated that Lamond was not using Tarrio as a source after the Dec. 12, 2020, banner burning. 'It was the other way around,' she said. Lamond, of Colonial Beach, Virginia, retired in May 2023 after 23 years of service to the police department. Lamond, who met Tarrio in 2019, had supervised the intelligence branch of the police department's Homeland Security Bureau. He was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington. Prosecutors said Lamond tipped off Tarrio that a warrant for his arrest had been signed. They pointed to messages that suggest Lamond provided Tarrio with real-time updates on the police investigation. Lamond's indictment says he and Tarrio exchanged messages about the Jan. 6 riot and discussed whether Proud Boys members were in danger of being charged in the attack. 'Of course I can't say it officially, but personally I support you all and don't want to see your group's name and reputation dragged through the mud,' Lamond wrote. Lamond said he was upset that a prosecutor labeled him as a Proud Boys 'sympathizer' who acted as a 'double agent' for the group after Tarrio burned a stolen Black Lives Matter banner in December 2020. 'I don't support the Proud Boys, and I'm not a Proud Boys sympathizer,' Lamond testified. Lamond said he considered Tarrio to be a source, not a friend. But he said he tried to build a friendly rapport with the group leader to gain his trust.
