Jonathan Price Killing Armed Man Causes Chaos After Vigil ... Cop Charged with Murder

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STIRRIN' UP TROUBLE
@benjamindiez_ / Twitter

A peaceful vigil for Jonathan Price -- an unarmed Black man shot to death by a cop in Texas -- erupted in mayhem when an armed white man showed up and clashed with protesters.

The tense confrontation went down late Monday night in Wolfe City, Texas ... where Price was fatally shot Saturday at a gas station by Wolfe City PD officer Shaun David Lucas.

After a prayer vigil, a white man arrived at the site with a large semi-automatic weapon ... and was confronted by people at the vigil, including Black Lives Matter supporters.

Though several of the people tried to separate the armed man from angry crowd, emotions boiled over into shouting and charging at him ... though it doesn't look like he was ever physically attacked. Thankfully, he also never fired his weapon.

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ON THE SCENE
@benjamindiez_ / Twitter

Police arrived on the scene minutes later, and despite calls from the crowd to have him arrested for pointing his weapon at them ... the man was allowed to leave after a long talk with officers. As far as we can tell, no arrests were made.

The vigil for Jonathan comes after Texas Rangers say he was shot and killed Saturday night by Officer Lucas who responded to a call for a domestic disturbance.

The Rangers say Price was involved in the disturbance and Lucas tried to detain him, but he “resisted in a non-threatening posture and began walking away.” Lucas then deployed his Taser and fired his gun and shot Price, who was reportedly unarmed. He died at a nearby hospital.

Jonathan's family says he was actually trying to break up a fight between a man and a woman at the gas station, and claim there's video showing Lucus' shooting was unjustified.

The Texas Rangers say a “preliminary investigation indicates that the actions of Officer Lucas were not objectionably reasonable."

Officer Lucas was arrested and charged with murder Monday. He posted his $1 million bond.

Breonna Taylor Family Reacts to Daniel Cameron Changing Tune ... He 'Clearly Failed' Breonna!!!

UPDATE

10:28 AM PT -- Breonna's family and their legal team -- Ben Crump, Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker -- are reacting to Cameron agreeing to release the grand jury recordings ... saying Cameron "clearly failed to present a comprehensive case that supported justice for Breonna.

UPDATE

The family and legal team feels "that conclusion is supported by the grand juror who came forward to say that the attorney general misrepresented the grand jury’s deliberations. We fully support the call to release the entire proceeding transcript as the only way to know what evidence was presented and how the grand jury instructions led to this outcome."

UPDATE

The statement went on to say "law-abiding citizens -- including Black citizens -- have the right to live peacefully in their homes, without police breaking down their doors in the middle of the night, and they have a right to protect themselves and their property from intruders. The police cannot claim their use of force was justified when they wrongly broke into Breonna’s apartment in the first place."

UPDATE

The family wants Cameron to release a complete and unedited copy of the recording, along with any and all evidence in Breonna's case.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron says he will release a recording of the Breonna Taylor grand jury proceedings -- responding to pressure from Breonna's family and one pissed off grand juror.

Cameron made the announcement just hours after an anonymous grand juror filed a motion demanding a judge allow the grand jurors to go public. The proceedings are normally kept secret, but the juror made the highly unusual request because they felt Cameron hung them out dry when he announced the indictment of ex-cop Brett Hankison.

The grand juror ripped into Cameron and asked to share deets so that "the truth may prevail." Cameron said he'll release the recording Wednesday, but said sharing more information would be inappropriate with a criminal case and separate federal probe ongoing. He added a grand jury is meant to be a secretive body but relented it's "apparent that the public interest in this case isn't going to allow that to happen."

Cameron said, "We have no concerns with grand jurors sharing their thoughts on our presentation because we are confident in the case we presented. Once the public listens to the recording, they will see that over the course of two-and-a-half days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the Grand Jury."

One of the key issues ... did the grand jury hear from the 12 neighbors who said they did NOT hear police identify themselves before breaking down Breonna's door?

The recording of the proceedings should answer that question ... which is critical because if the cops didn't announce themselves, then Breonna's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, would be justified in firing at people he presumed to be intruders.

Cameron maintained officers Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove fired in self-defense and were, therefore, justified in their use of force.

As you know ... Hankison and the 2 other cops involved were not charged with shooting and killing Breonna. Hankison was indicted for firing his weapon into Breonna's neighbor's apartment.

Originally published -- 7:44 AM PT

BTS We're Millionaires!!! Producer's Got a Billion

It pays to be in K-pop ... all 7 members in BTS are now multimillionaires and their longtime producer just joined the ranks of the triple comma club.

Here's the deal ... Big Hit Entertainment, the South Korean record label behind BTS, is raising a ton of money after pricing its initial public offering at the top end of its target range following a ton of interest from investors, and it's paying off big time for the band members and company CEO.

Big Hit is issuing shares at $115 each, raising $822 million and valuing the record label at a whopping $4.1 billion. The deal is South Korea's largest stock market listing in 3 years.

BTS' members -- Kim Tae-hyung, Jung Ho-seok, Kim Nam-joon, Kim Seok-jin, Park Ji-min, Jeon Jung-kook, and Min Yoon-gi -- are benefiting from the IPO price ... they were each given 68,385 shares in Big Hit last month, and their stakes are now worth $7.9 million each.

That's peanuts compared to Big Hit honcho Bang Si-Hyuk, the man credited with creating BTS back in 2013 and setting the band up for superstardom. Bang owns over 40% of the company, according to stock exchange filings, making him a billionaire.

President Trump Tax Returns Finally Surface Reports of Massive Losses, Paid $750

President Trump's infamously elusive tax returns have reportedly seen the light of day -- and they appear to paint a portrait of Houdini-like tactics that have allegedly allowed DT to avoid paying income taxes for years ... and a grand total of $750 in his first year on the job.

The NYT claims to have obtained tax-return data extending over two decades, including 2016 and 2017 ... years they report Trump paid a paltry $750 in income taxes in each year. Prior to that -- for at least 10 of the previous 15 years -- NYT says Trump paid $0 in income tax.

An attorney for the Trump Organization disputed the Times' findings ... and called them inaccurate ... asserting Trump had paid tens of millions in personal taxes to the feds over the past decade, including millions more since announcing his candidacy is 2015.

The Times says the attorney appears to be conflating "personal taxes" with income taxes -- noting DT has paid taxes for Medicare, Social Security and taxes for household employees.

As for how it's possible that Trump could've avoided paying income taxes for all those years -- as the Times reports -- it's because, based on the filings they've reviewed, he reported losing more money than he made ... in what they characterize as "chronic losses."

As for how rich the dude actually is ... the Times says the returns show he does own hundreds of millions in valuable assets, but they also claim he's hundreds of millions in debt as well, debts they say are coming due soon. So, it's really unclear how much he's worth.

The Times also reports that the returns do not show anything not previously known about Trump and Russia as far as business dealings are concerned. Just a quick glance at how much dough the dude was rolling in back in the 2000s because of "The Apprentice" and the licensing deals that followed -- the NYT says it amounted to upwards of $427 million all in. They also say some of that money was reinvested into other businesses -- including golf courses -- which have hemorrhaged cash.

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"IT'S TOTALLY FAKE NEWS"
Fox News

Now, Trump has already caught wind of the report -- and he's calling it the usual ... fake news.

Trump says he's currently under audit by the IRS -- which the Times confirms, and explains it could cost the Prez a whopping $100M if they find that a $72 mil tax credit he once claimed is illegitimate.

The Times says more stories about what the returns supposedly depict will come in the weeks to follow.

Coronavirus Vaccine Could Result in 500,000 Shark Deaths

A possible COVID-19 vaccine relies on shark livers, and conservationists are warning it could decimate the shark population.

A British pharmaceutical company called GlaxoSmithKline currently manufactures a flu vaccine, which includes shark squalene, which is a natural oil produced in the liver. It's known to create a strong response from the recipient's immune system.

The company plans to produce A BILLION DOSES of a coronavirus vaccine, which would include shark squalene.

An environmental group called Shark Allies, claims a quarter-of-a-million sharks would have to be killed to produce the necessary amount of squalene for one dose per person. If 2 doses are required -- which may well be the case -- we're talking half a million sharks that would be killed.

Stefanie Brendl, who runs Shark Allies, says, "Harvesting something from a wild animal is never going to be sustainable, especially if it's a top predator that doesn't reproduce in huge numbers."

Squalene is a coveted ingredient in cosmetics and machine oil. Estimates are that 3 million sharks are killed every year for squalene. BTW ... Orca whales prey on shark livers and can almost surgically remove them. Some shark livers weigh as much as 180 lbs.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg First Woman to Lie in State at Capitol ... Biden, Harris Attend

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is making history one final time -- she's now become the first woman to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol.

RGB's casket arrived Friday morning for a memorial service at Statuary Hall attended by Presidential candidate Joe Biden, Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other dignitaries.

A military honor guard carried RGB's casket into the Capitol and then Statuary Hall. For perspective, only about 30 Americans -- including 12 U.S. Presidents -- have lain in state at the Capitol since 1852, all men.

It should be noted ... Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks was given a lying in honor tribute at Statuary Hall in 2005, and the Rev. Bill Graham got the same honor in 2018. But, RGB becomes the first woman -- and the first Jewish person -- to receive this honor. It marks the close of 3 days of memorials.

As we reported, President Trump paid respects Thursday while she lied in repose at the Supreme Court, but was greeted with boos and chants of "vote him out". Neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence attended Friday's ceremony.

RGB's family will reportedly hold a private burial next week at Arlington National Cemetery.

Skate Legend Keith Hufnagel Dead At 46 After Battle W/ Brain Cancer

Legendary skater Keith Hufnagel -- one of the most influential skateboarders of all time -- passed away earlier this week at the age of 46.

Hufnagel had been battling brain cancer for the past 2 and a half years ... and fought to beat his original diagnosis.

Hufnagel -- who was born in NYC in 1974 -- had a massive impact on the East Coast skating scene in the '90s ... and beyond.

In addition to being a badass on the board, Hufnagel was also the founder of the immensely popular and important skate shop, HUF Worldwide.

"Keith loved skateboarding and the culture around it," the brand said Thursday. "He did things his way and did them for the right reasons. He inspired so many of us across the globe."

"But above anything else, Keith loved and supported the people around him. He would do anything for his friends, family and children. He passionately wanted to see others succeed. And we all loved him for it."

The skate legend is recognized as a streetwear and sneaker icon.

USA Skateboarding released a statement on KH's death, saying ... "We are devastated to hear that Keith Hufnagel has passed away. His impact on skateboarding, both on his board and off it as a designer, brand owner/founder and friend will live forever. Rest in peace, Keith"

Keith is survived by his wife, Mariellen ... and their children.

RIP

Spanish Triathlon Runner Allows Competitor to Beat Him

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TRUE SPORTSMANSHIP
@GoodNewsCorres1 / Twitter

It's undeniably good sportsmanship -- a triathlon runner stopped running and let a competitor beat him --  but in the world of sports, is it too much?

British athlete James Teagle was oh-so-close to placing third in the 2020 Santander Triathlon in Spain. Thing is ... about 100 yards before reaching the finish line, Teagle became confused and ran the wrong way, toward the cheering crowd.

Enter Spanish triathlete Diego Mentrida, who had been behind Teagle for much of the race.  Mentrida passed Teagle, but before reaching the finish line, he suddenly stopped and let Teagle -- who regained his bearings -- pass him to place third.

After the race, Mentrida said, "He deserved it. This is something my parents and my club taught me since I was a child. My view is it should be a normal thing to do."

The winner of the race, Javier Gomez Noya, called Mentrida's move "the best in history."

The organizers of the race decided to give Mentrida an honorary third place and he ended up getting 3rd place prize money -- $355.

Good guys honorarily finish 3rd.

President Trump Black Voters Go After Him at Town Hall

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DON'T INTERRUPT ME!
ABC

President Trump got grilled by voters who identify as undecided, and it was a far cry from his rallies as several of them held his feet to the fire on issues like healthcare and systemic racism ... and didn't back down.

The Prez was challenged with many tough questions at an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia Tuesday night ... in particular 2 undecided voters.

Assistant Professor Ellesia Blaque told Trump how she has struggled with a preexisting medical condition all her life, adding it's especially difficult for her as a black woman to get adequate medical care. Trump tried to interrupt her but she wasn't having it and shut him down.

Trump predictably went after Obama and spewed a couple of lies about the Affordable Care Act ... but it didn't go unchecked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos. Like we said -- this was no Trump rally.

Then there was Pastor Carl Day, who called Trump out over his campaign slogan -- "Make America Great Again." Day asked Trump when American has ever been great for African-Americans living in the ghetto ... and if he was aware how tone-deaf MAGA comes off to the Black community.

Dr. Oz America Needs More Black Doctors ... It's a Life or Death Matter

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WE NEED TO DIVERSIFY
TMZ.com

Dr. Oz is appalled, and embarrassed, by stats like Black newborns are 3 times more likely to die under the care of white doctors -- and now he's on a mission to do something about it.

The doc joined "TMZ Live" on Tuesday to explain why he launched the #moreBlackdoctors initiative as part of his effort to raise awareness about racial bias in hospitals. He told us how one of his staffers opened his eyes to the Black community's view of the medical field.

Oz, who just kicked off the 12th season of his show, says he got goosebumps after learning Black babies taken care of by Black doctors have a higher survival rate than Black babies under the care of White doctors. It's shockingly true.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S. (PNAS) showed the mortality rate of Black newborns dwindled from 58% to 39% when they're under the care of Black docs. But, when it came to white babies, their mortality rate was hardly affected regardless of the doctor's race.

You'll recall, activist Bakari Sellers recently shared his shocking tale about his wife's pregnancy -- and Dr. Oz says that's a stark reminder of the biases that exist even in medicine.

You gotta see how he's planning to plant seeds of change with kids of color. It's an important initiative that can have a long term, long-lasting impact.

Amber Heard, Tina Knowles It's #HammerTime!!! ... Lead the Way for Habitat for Humanity

Hollywood's rallying behind Habitat for Humanity L.A. ... with Amber Heard, Tina Knowles and Lance Bass leading the way to raise some good money for a great cause.

Amber, Tina and Lance are just some of the many celebs who are helping the org raise awareness and funds through a social media campaign dubbed #Hammertime. The funds will help build homes during the COVID-19 pandemic for families in the Hollywood community who can't afford it. Some of the dough will also be used as valuable resources for families in need.

Scores of other celebs, including Tori Spelling and Holly Robinson Peete, have signed up to help launch the social campaign. For every $25 or more donated to HFH L.A., donors can get a special steel hammer created by Redline Steel ... a veteran-owned, American-made hammer perfect for hammering away while building a new home.

Jo-An Turman, VP of entertainment partnerships at Habitat L.A., tells TMZ ... "these beautiful gifts will help the org continue to build hope, homes and address the need for affordable housing."

BTW, the owner of Redline Steel is Colin Wayne ... an Army veteran who survived a rocket attack nearly 10 years ago in Afghanistan. Now that's one helluva partnership.

'Edward Scissorhands' Boggs Family Home Sold to Fans ... Hair Above Asking Price!!!

A family of "Edward Scissorhands" fans scooped up the Boggs house featured in the movie, and instead of getting it at a slashed price ... they ponied up a little extra to seal the deal.

We broke the story ... the Florida home used for exterior and interior shots in the 1990 Tim Burton cult classic -- starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder -- went on the market last month for $224k, with new colors and renovations.

It didn't take long for it to generate interest from multiple buyers, but we're told one family with kids pushed the hardest and bought the house for $6,000 above asking price.

Turns out, the buyers love the movie and the husband grew up in the area. We're told he had watched some of 'Scissorhands' being shot in the Tampa suburban town of Lutz back when he was a kid.

Our sources say the famous movie home got about a dozen offers in its first week on the market, and officially closed last week.

The 1,432-square-foot residence comes with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, including a completely remodeled master bath. Along with the upgrades, it still boasts some original charming attributes from the film ... like the kitchen cabinets and countertops.

The newly-sold Boggs home was listed by Stacie Savoy of Berkshire Hathaway Florida Properties Group.

Oracle Reportedly Wins TikTok Bid in U.S. ... App May Now Get Trump Reprieve

Microsoft is pulling the plug on any potential plans to take over TikTok's operations here in the States -- but a new player has reportedly emerged to take the spoils ... Oracle.

The Wall Street Journal says the Bay Area-based tech company -- which sells database software technology and computer cloud systems -- has struck a deal with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to control U.S. operations ... this after Microsoft said it was out.

Microsoft announced Sunday they'd ended convos with ByteDance, basically saying BD didn't wanna make a deal ... despite what they said was a good offer.

Microsoft writes, "ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft." They added, "We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests."

Apparently, Microsoft was asking for too much control for BD's taste ... it says under the command of President Trump, who's threatening to ban the app entirely in the U.S. if a deal isn't made ... it would've needed to make significant changes to make sure TikTok would be safe for American users, as it pertains to privacy, security, etc.

The real reason ByteDance reportedly didn't budge is that they weren't willing to sell away their underlying coding, which is the secret to their algorithm (aka what shows up on your TikTok feed, when and why). BD has reportedly indicated THAT isn't for sale.

Of course, that's a huge part of why Trump and co. either want to get rid of the app or control the technology. They allege it's feeding certain content to American users, lifting data from them at the same time and funneling it all back to the Chinese government.

Donald Trump AUGUST 2020
THE ULTIMATUM
C-SPAN

The last remaining known American bidder was Oracle -- and, obviously, they got the coveted prize in the end. What remains unclear is if Oracle is looking to make the same sweeping security changes Microsoft was committed to ... especially if what they're saying about the coding is true. If not, it's almost like a meaningless sale ... or so it would seem.

In any case, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Trump gave everyone a deadline of Sept. 20 to announce a deal, and a few weeks after that to make the sale actually happen before he threatened to boot TikTok from app stores permanently.

North Dakota City Councilwoman I'm Gay and You're a Bigot!!!

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WE'RE PEOPLE TOO
City of Minot

A city councilwoman in Minot, North Dakota got into it with a resident during a council meeting Friday -- a resident who was clearly upset the City would dare raise an LGBTQ+ flag -- and she shut him down by telling him and the rest of the City ... she's gay and she's proud of it.

Councilwoman Carrie Evans clearly had it with the man who has issues with gays, saying, “So, Mr. Walker, if you’re not aware, and I think a lot of people in this room are not aware, and have come here just because this is a gay issue, I am proudly the first openly elected lesbian in North Dakota. So that is why I am not paying any heed to your crap!”

She went on ... “I am a person. I get to see myself represented on that flagpole just as much as the people who got the Juneteenth flag last month, as much as the POW/MIA will get later this month.”

And that wasn't the end ... “Every single person is entitled to see themselves represented. We are not some group of people who live in San Francisco or Seattle. We are HERE. We are your elected officials. We are your brothers. we are your sisters, and don’t tell me you’re not hatred or anger. That’s all I feel. I’ve had to listen to it for days now, as has the mayor and many of my colleagues. It is unacceptable!”

And then she ended with this ... "I’m sorry that it doesn’t make you feel comfortable, but we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going away!”

His response ... "Thank you for exposing yourself ..."  Well, that says it all, right?

Pet Abuse CEO Apologizes For Roughing Up Dog ... Finds Pup a New Home

091020-dog-abuse-kal AUGUST 2020
THE HORRIBLE ABUSE
SWNS

The dog owner caught on camera dragging, choking and slapping his dog is fessing up and apologizing ... and the abused pup is getting a new home.

Jeffrey Previte, CEO of an environmental consulting firm in L.A., tells TMZ ... he truly regrets the way he attempted to discipline his dog, Bici, and he's sorry and heartbroken over the incident.

Jeffrey tells us he lost his temper and "took unreasonable and unjustifiable action" ... and he's owning up to the video while also saying it doesn't represent the time he spent with Bici.

Previte says he's sorry to Bici and anyone disturbed by the video ... he also tells us he loves the dog and they've had "an exceptional life full of nature and affection."

As we reported ... surveillance footage from Jeffrey's Santa Monica apartment building showed him snapping on the dog last month, and his employer launched an investigation when the disturbing video surfaced.

Jeffrey tells us he's accepting responsibility by taking a leave of absence from his job, enrolling in an anger management program and spending time and money helping animal rights orgs. He also says he's placed Bici with a loving family.

Jeff says he's "an imperfect person" and hopes for some level of forgiveness in time as he tries to become a better human and grow as a man.