Latest news with #TheAtlantaJournal-Constitution
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
MAGA lawmaker expresses concern over Trump admin's mass deportation agenda
Donald Trump's administration has sought to portray its immigration crackdown as immensely popular and opposed only by liberal extremists. But as it turns out, the disturbing scenes and stories of agents doggedly pursuing immigrants and deporting them with abandon is making even some of the president's staunch supporters queasy. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., expressed horror over the detention and potential deportation of a Venezuelan man named Gregory Sanabria, who human rights organizations say was tortured under Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro's regime. The Trump administration recently rescinded temporary protection for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans who came to the U.S. under a Biden-era program. And fears about what this could mean for communities where large numbers of these immigrants reside have caused some GOP lawmakers in these districts — such as Diaz-Balart — to essentially plead with the administration for mercy. 'I'm increasingly concerned with the growing cases of people in the United States who have fled oppressive regimes and are being detained and held for possible deportation. Cases like Sanabria's, and so many others with legitimate claims of persecution, require a thorough review,' Diaz-Balart wrote on X on Sunday while sharing his letter, which specifically asks Noem to 'judiciously review' Sanabria's case and expresses concern that he might be forced to live under the Maduro regime again. There's a growing trend of Trump supporters reckoning with the reality of his immigration agenda and being taken aback by its apparent disregard for immigrants' humanity. Podcaster Joe Rogan and boxer Ryan Garcia are two of the most prominent Trump-friendly voices who have denounced the president's mass deportation agenda. And other examples abound. Florida businessman Vincent Scardina, who said he voted for Trump last year, gained attention after he got choked up during an NBC News interview in which he explained the emotional toll inflicted by the detention of one-third of his workers. And last month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story about a couple who say they voted for Trump but are now outraged after their green card-holding son was placed in detention. Indeed, many of the president's critics predicted that his anti-immigrant agenda would have far-reaching impacts that stood a high chance of devastating many of his own supporters. Belatedly as it seems, some people are beginning to realize just how prescient those predictions were. This article was originally published on
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Rapper Silento gets 30 years after pleading guilty to killing his cousin
Silento (pic), the Atlanta rapper known for his hit song Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) , pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the 2021 shooting death of his 34-year-old cousin. The 27-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of Jan 21, 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said the found 10 bullet casings near Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Rooks told police that Silento had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silento confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities said. Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson before sentencing that Silento should have gotten a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silentóo made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show The Doctors in 2019 that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. "I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. "Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silento said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you. "I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silento had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. In August 2020, Silento was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he didn't know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed. In October 2020, Silento was arrested after police said they clocked him driving 143 miles per hour (230 kilometers per hour) on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. Hudson said at the time of Silento's arrest in the killing of Rooks that he had been "suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses." – AP
The Star
12-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
Stop eating ultraprocessed food if you don't want an early death
With their poor diet, Americans face the highest increased risk of death among eight countries. — TNS People eating ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) might be snacking their way to an earlier death, says research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine . From white bread to soda, the hallmark features of UPFs include added sugar, salt, hydrogenated fats, artificial colours, preservatives and starches. UPFs make up roughly 58% of American diets, the most out of any country. According to lead study investigator Eduardo Nilson, as far as diets go, it's a potentially deadly one. 'We first estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and all-cause mortality, so that each 10% increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3%,' he said in a news release. Nilson and his team of researchers pooled data on UPFs from eight countries, including the United States. Worldwide, the US outranked every other featured country for having the highest concentration of UPFs in its diets. Americans consequently faced the highest increased risk of death – nearly 14%. The study estimated 124,000 premature deaths within the US were attributable to UPF consumption in 2018 alone. UPF consumption has previously been linked to 32 health conditions, including cancers, obesity and high blood pressure. Nilson and his team's work, however, has given researchers a better understanding of precisely how all of those different influences may be putting consumers at risk. 'UPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of high content of critical nutrients (sodium, trans fats and sugar) because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours and sweeteners, emulsifiers and many other additives and processing aids. 'So, assessing deaths from all-causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health,' Nilson explained. While the US is facing the highest rate of attributable premature deaths, UPFs are becoming an expanding issue in many other countries. 'It is concerning that, while in high-income countries UPF consumption is already high but relatively stable for over a decade, in low- and middle-income countries the consumption has continuously increased, meaning that while the attributable burden in high-income countries is currently higher, it is growing in the other countries,' Nilson said. 'This shows that policies that disincentivise the consumption of UPFs are urgently needed globally, promoting traditional dietary patterns based on local fresh and minimally processed foods.' For this study, Nilson's team processed data on UPF consumption in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the US. – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Watch Me Whip rapper sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his cousin
Silentó, the rapper behind the 2015 viral hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal 2021 shooting of his cousin. On Wednesday, the 27-year-old Atlanta-based artist, real name Ricky Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. As part of his plea deal, another murder charge was dropped. Silentó was 23 when he was arrested by DeKalb County police and charged with the murder of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Roots III, in January 2021. At the time, police responded to a report of a person shot outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur, Georgia. When they arrived, they found Roots bleeding heavily from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Rooks's body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Rooks told police that Silentó had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silentó confessed about 10 days later, after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities said. Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson before sentencing that Silentó should have gotten a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Silentó was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)' and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silentó made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show The Doctors in 2019 that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silentó said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' He added: 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silentó had been struggling with his mental health in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. The rapper was arrested twice in 2020 — once following an incident involving a hatchet and another time on reckless driving charges. Additional reporting by The Associated Press
North Wales Chronicle
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
Rapper Silento sentenced to 30 years for shooting cousin to death
The 27-year-old, known for his hit song, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), pleaded guilty but mentally ill on Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the shooting of his 34-year-old cousin. Silento, whose legal name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, DeKalb County district attorney Sherry Boston said in a statement. Hawk also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. A murder charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. DeKalb County police found Frederick Rooks III shot in the leg and face in the early morning hours of January 21 2021 outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Mr Rooks' body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Mr Rooks told police that Silento had picked up his cousin in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silento confessed about 10 days later after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silento had when he was arrested, authorities said. Mr Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L Johnson before sentencing that Silento should have received a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The rapper was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silento made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show, The Doctors, in 2019, that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silento said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silento had been struggling in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. In August 2020, Silento was arrested in Santa Ana, California, on a domestic violence charge. The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department charged him with assault with a deadly weapon after witnesses said he entered a home where he did not know anyone looking for his girlfriend and swung a hatchet at two people before he was disarmed. In October 2020, Silento was arrested after police said they clocked him driving at 143 miles per hour on Interstate 85 in DeKalb County. Ms Hudson said at the time of Silento's arrest in the killing of Mr Rooks that he had been 'suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses'.
