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The lawyer for Ahmaud Arbery's family says the federal authorities met with them last week and said they have launched a criminal investigation into the conduct of 2 district attorneys and members of the police department that allegedly covered up Ahmaud's killing.

Lee Merritt appeared Monday on "TMZ Live" and said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia informed the family they were looking at both civil and criminal action against the officials.

Merritt also talked about the text message the police sent to a homeowner, telling him if there was "action" on his doorbell he should call Gregory McMichael, one of the accused murderers.

Merritt worries the police conduct may have effectively deputized the elder McMichael, such that the citizen's arrest laws don't apply and he would be treated as a law enforcement officer. As you know, McMichael's son, Travis, is the one who fired the shots, but Merritt says it could still be a problem given what the police did.

To mask or not to mask -- Staten Island shoppers are beyond debating that issue ... instead they're just shouting rule-breakers right out of stores.

It was straight-up mob justice when a woman went shopping for groceries this weekend without wearing a face covering. You can see in the video, she tried to stand her ground. Tried.

Eventually, a handful of her very loud fellow shoppers -- who were wearing masks -- let the woman know what time it was ... time to get the hell outta the store.

No Karens needed here to call cops, cause you can tell ... Staten Island doesn't play. For the record, NY Gov. Cuomo ordered face masks to be worn in public in all places where social distancing is not possible. That includes stores, public transportation and even busy sidewalks. Makes sense as NY state was the epicenter of COVID-19 ... with more than 23,000 deaths.

As the Governor put it, "How can you not wear a mask when you're going to come close to a person?"

It's really frightening ... a 2nd Amendment Kentucky rally the day before Memorial Day turned into an insane display of Governor Andy Beshear being hung in effigy.

It makes no sense, other than some gun-toting fanatics wanting to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Around 100 people swarmed the Governor's mansion to celebrate constitutional rights, as they packed heat.

It was billed as a Second Amendment rally ... "what it really means to be FREE."

Pastor Cliff Christman then launched on the Governor's coronavirus restrictions, grousing, "This has been one of the biggest shams in world history ... Grown men have been hiding in homes nearly wetting their pants over this invisible enemy that nobody sees. Where is it at?  Let it come out and face us."

Get this kid on the court -- Kobe and Vanessa Bryant's youngest took her first solo steps, and the video will make you cheer like it was one of her dad's dunks.

Capri Bryant, the 11-month-old phenom, took 4-5 giant baby steps Sunday ... stumbling into her mom's waiting arms, and got a roomful of applause for her achievement.

Vanessa was beaming over the milestone, saying ... "My baby!!!! So proud of my Koko Bean. Capri took her first steps from her auntie Sophie to mama today."

It was just February -- less than 2 weeks after Kobe and Gigi Bryant perished in the helicopter crash -- that we saw Capri standing on her own for the first time. Kid's making big strides!

Vanessa hyped up Capri right after her latest accomplishment, telling her, "I knew you were gonna do it!"

Queen's guitarist, Brian May, got a double shot of "Another One Bites the Dust" ... first with an agonizing crushed nerve, followed by a heart attack.

Luckily, Brian lived to tell the tale himself, but he says for a good week he was in absolute "agony" -- and that was before his heart nearly stopped pumping.

The rock icon says he thought he tore a muscle while gardening -- not very rock 'n' roll, we know, but he's 72. Brian says he tried to treat himself with ice for a week, but when he finally got an MRI it revealed he had a compressed sciatic nerve.

While struggling to recover from that he got the double whammy -- heart attack!!! Brian says he was at home when he felt the tightness in his chest and got his doctor to drive him to a hospital.

Brian calls it a "small" heart attack, but consider this ... doctors had to implant three stents to clear blocked arteries. So, it doesn't sound all that small.

As his buddy, the late great Freddie Mercury put it ... "Sends shivers down my spine ... body aching all the time."

Donald Trump wants thousands of Republican delegates crammed into the convention hall in North Carolina ... or else.

Trump just tweeted he will move the Republican Convention out of North Carolina unless Governor Roy Cooper gives assurance the convention can operate at full capacity.

Trump said, "Unfortunately, Democratic Governor @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood (sic) & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena."  Trump went on to threaten a switch if the Governor doesn't cave ... "... we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican Convention site. This is not something I want to do."

Doctors and scientists have implored people to maintain social distancing in public ... that's why there will be no fans at sporting events in the foreseeable future. What's more, just a few people who have the virus can infect hundreds, and those hundreds can infect thousands and so on. It's been happening at churches, choirs, nursing homes, etc.

Elon Musk and Grimes pushed the envelope thaaaaat much too far because it turns out their baby's name is against the law!!!

As you know, Elon and Grimes had a baby boy earlier this month, whom they named X Æ A-12 Musk.

But then, people started digging in and found under California law, birth names must be limited to the following characters ... abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.

Grimes clearly got the message, because someone noticed a change and asked, "Did you change the baby name because of California law?  What is the baby's new name?" She replied, "X Æ A-Xii," adding, "Roman numerals. Looks better tbh."

As for what it all means ... the X stands for an unknown variable, Æ is like AI, and if you know anything about Musk he's intrigued and concerned about it.

Grimes explained A-12 -- "A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent."

The "A" has musical significance to Grimes ... it stands for "Archangel," her favorite song.

As for how to pronounce ... Musk told Joe Rogan, "I mean it's just X, the letter X. And then, the Æ is, like, pronounced 'Ash'... and then, A-12, A-12 is my contribution."

Hundreds of air-filled hippo suits are selling out, possibly because they provide extra protection for folks to hug their loved ones ... as demonstrated by one loving daughter on TV.

The hippopotamus ballerina costume is ballooning in popularity, and the latest display was featured on the news at the Fox Trails Senior Living Home in Stephens City, Virginia last week.

A daughter dressed up as a large gray hippo in a tutu in order to embrace her mother living at the residence ... while still protecting against COVID-19. The nursing home staff reportedly came up with the idea to use sterilized suits so family members can hug during visits.

Inflatable costumes like the ballerina hippo are in high demand right now, too. This particular suit has been getting scooped up by consumers since "social distancing" became a thing ... in fact, there are only a few left in stock at top online costume retailer HalloweenCostumes.com.

We're told the company sold around 75 of the same hippo ballerina costume in 2019, but this year ... 450 suits have pranced out of its warehouse, so far.

The item’s the third top seller on the site right now, even after doubling its original price tag to $120 thanks to popularity and white-hot demand.

Holding the top spot is the "Jurassic World" T-Rex inflatable suit, which is currently out of stock. Owner Tom Fallenstein tells us only 20 of the air-filled $89.99 dino costumes were purchased in 2019 ... but it came roaring back this year with 600 units sold.

A few of the customers decked out as dinosaurs paid a visit to another senior living home’s parking lot earlier this month ... to lift the spirits of the residents sheltering indoors.

The snitch is back!!! That's probably how the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast will react after learning Yovanna Momplaisir's returning next season as an official cast member, so get ready for more of her drama involving NeNe Leakes.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ ... producers invited Yovanna to sign on for season 13 as an official cast member. We're told the contracts went out to all the ladies after they filmed the reunion. More on that later.

As for Yovanna's role next season ... our sources say her main storyline for the upcoming season will piggyback off the scandal that erupted during season 12. As diehard 'RHOA' fans know ... the so-called SnakeGate drama roped in the entire cast after the ladies found out Yovanna came on the show as a friend/spy for NeNe, who wanted Yovanna to gather intel to see which of the ladies were trash-talking NeNe behind her back.

The ladies ultimately were led to believe NeNe asked Yovanna to record the conversations. During a trip to Canada, they peppered Yovanna with questions, but she danced around everything. As it turns out, Yovanna never recorded anything and admits NeNe asked her to record the conversations. The cast's reaction ... "so you're a snitch?" Ouch.

Cliff Alexander was such a star H.S. basketball recruit ... one cop remembered him during the former NBA player's gun arrest this month -- and the interaction was all caught on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

Alexander was pulled over at around 9:30 PM CT on May 6 in Chicago, Ill. after cops say he blew through a stop sign ... and shortly after, one officer realized who exactly he had detained.

"Oh, you're that hooper!" the cop said, before asking him about his high school recruiting ranking.

FYI -- Alexander was largely considered the top prospect in the country back in the 2014 recruiting class ... right alongside future Duke Blue Devil Jahlil Okafor.

In the video, you can hear the officer actually asks Alexander about the battle for the No. 1 spot with Okafor ... and the interaction is kind of funny.

"I remember that sh*t!" the cop said. "That's crazy! ... You went to Kansas, right!?"

Of course, the stop didn't go so well for Alexander outside of that convo ... cops say the 24-year-old illegally had a loaded firearm under his seat, which one officer said appeared to be a "Glock 21."

Alexander also admitted to cops during the stop he had "like 6 grams" of weed on him ... and you can see in video, he explained to an officer he stuffed it in his pants because "I'm paranoid."

Eventually, Alexander was arrested and booked on a felony charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was also hit with a citation for failing to stop at a stop sign -- but he was NOT booked on drug charges.

If you haven't been keeping up with these sexy sisters, then you might not have seen all the hot quarantine pics the Kardashian/Jenner crew have been sharing!

Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie have been staying busy and snapping away through this time at home, and these siblings sure know how to pass the time and have been entertaining their followers with their famous photos ... and now we're sharing them with you!

Take a look at what sweet shots have been shared by scrolling through our gallery of Kardashian quarantine kurves ... check out all the sister snaps and try to see if you can guess which sis is in the pic!

College towns in the U.S. are biting their fingernails at the prospect of students being kept home for the upcoming fall semester, including one prominent California university ... UCSB.

We called up several small businesses operating in the bordering campus neighborhood of Isla Vista, and they all pretty much told us the same thing ... they need kids to come back to school this fall, or else they'll have little to no clientele and, more importantly, employees.

Take Woodstock's, a famous pizza joint around there. A manager tells TMZ that a vast majority of their workforce is made up of students, and if they're told to stay home when September rolls around ... there won't be enough staff to man the ship throughout the year.

That, obviously, could spell trouble for keeping the business afloat. Not only would there be a reduced staff, but there'd also be virtually no one to sell the food to if students vanish.

Ditto for Rockfire Grill -- they tell us 80% of their employees are students, and they put it bluntly ... no students, means no business. They're now ramping up marketing efforts to reach folks outside of UCSB's immediate vicinity ... perhaps in Goleta or Ventura, perhaps.

Funny enough, one store that's doing well is Isla Vista Bicycle Boutique, which says tons of people are buying their bikes right now. They do acknowledge though ... if students aren't around in the fall -- they too will be hurting financially, as they rely on those customers.

Yes, Dress for Less -- but also ... dress comfortably for long wait times at Ross, 'cause that's what hundreds of people are experiencing across the country as the company starts to reopen its doors.

Check out all these crazy scenes from different Ross discount stores nationwide -- from Louisiana to Indiana and probably lots of other locations in between. There are MASSIVE lines out the door that wrap around the building ... and in some cases, out into the parking lot.

As one FB user noted, there doesn't appear to be a special promotional giveaway or anything that Ross has announced lately. Other than the fact that these go-to retail haunts are just now starting to let customers back in, not much else has changed. So, what gives?

Well for one ... apparently some Rosses are having major sales upon reopening, which would explain the crowds. They're already pretty cheap, and a sale is like giving stuff away. Two -- and probably more to why the lines are so long -- is that Ross has pretty strict restrictions in place for getting in ... including a limited head count, and roadblocks.

Word on the ground is that Ross has implemented plexiglass all throughout the inside, and a lot of their aisles are one-way too. Oh, and don't forget social distancing ... Ross wants people to adhere to that when they're roaming their racks. So, in short, it takes forever now.

A two-faced kitten who was born in Oregon this past week has died just four days later ... despite a hard-fought battle to pull through.

The rare feline phenom -- which is often referred to as a Janus cat -- was part of a litter of six kittens that popped out in Albany on Wednesday, and the owner, Kyla King, noticed one of them had two mugs on one giant head. She named the kitty Biscuits and Gravy.

Kyla and her family documented B&G's development over the next few days, showing off their attempts to feed the kitten -- which proved incredibly difficult, on account of it being able to feed itself out of both faces -- as well as it playing and napping with its siblings.

The owners say Biscuit (its short name) was actually able to eat pretty decently, but he simply wouldn't grow ... and had trouble carrying its head, which was too big for its body.

In the end, the cat died of natural causes -- with Kyla writing ... "This photo was taken about an hour before Biscuits died. Kyla gave up 3 1/2 days of her life to put all of her efforts into saving him. He was born with the longest of odds and by living nearly 4 days, he beat those odds."

She added, "We thank all of you who have been so kind, prayed, and wished the best for Biscuits and Gravy. So many of you care and wanted to follow his progress, and said some very nice things to and about us. We will never forget your kindness!"

It's not uncommon for Janus cats like these to have short lifespans -- they simply have too many internal complications for prolonged good health. One exception though ... 15-year-old Frank and Louie, AKA Frankenlouie. He toughed it out for a long time, and died in 2014.

HERE WE GOOO!!!!

The biggest golf event of the year is finally underway ... with Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning facing off against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in "The Match" -- a COVID-19 charity golf showdown in Florida.

The whole thing was up in the air earlier Sunday morning ... with a massive rainstorm delaying the big event.

And, if golfing in the rain sounds like a fun time ... it definitely doesn't look like it.

The star-studded lineup just hit the links at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound for a fan-less affair ... braving the weather for the showdown.

Of course, Phil and Tiger faced off back in 2018 with Lefty coming out on top ... but adding the 2 Hall of Fame QBs will be sure to make things a lot more interesting in the tag-team format.

And, for those looking to tune in on the action, Charles Barkley is on board as an analyst for the Turner broadcast ... as if you needed any more reason to check it out.

FYI -- Peyton is reportedly a 6.4 handicap, while Tom is reportedly an 8.1 ... for those interested in putting some dough on the showdown.

BTW -- Tiger's wearing his Sunday Red ... so be ready for an EPIC performance.