A FORMER New York Knicks player was recently arrested three times in the span of 10 days.

Gerald Wilkins, 56, faces charges stemming from three different incidents — on three separate dates.

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According to WGCL-TV in Georgia, Wilkins allegedly threw an object at a colleague and “aggressively” chased the colleague with a screwdriver on Tuesday.

He was reportedly charged with simple battery, theft by taking, and aggravated assault.

Days before on June 6, Wilkins was involved in a domestic dispute during which he apparently barricaded himself in the victim’s bedroom.

Police claim that when they arrived on the scene, they had to break into the room.

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When they managed to get in, Wilkins had allegedly poured accelerant out and disabled the smoke alarm.

Wilkins was charged with criminal trespassing and hindering law enforcement.

Less than two weeks ago on May 31, Wilkins allegedly tried to force his way into a woman’s house and pushed her.

The 56-year-old has been charged with simple assault in that case.

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Wilkins is the brother of Dominique Wilkins, a former player who mostly played for the Atlanta Hawks, and who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 1985, Gerald Wilkins was a second-round pick for the Knicks and played with the team until 1992.

He also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, and Memphis Grizzles before he retired after the 1998 season.

The latest on protests against racism and police brutality from around the world.

RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond judge temporarily blocked Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday from removing a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the spot where it has stood for 130 years.

A Richmond Circuit Court judge granted a 10-day injunction sought by William Gregory, who contends in a lawsuit that the state promised to “affectionately protect” the statue when it annexed the land it stands on from Henrico County. The lawsuit identifies Gregory as the great-grandson of a couple who were signatories to the deed.

Northam, a Democrat, announced plans to remove the monument and put it in storage last week amid protests in Richmond and across the country against police brutality toward African Americans. The state appeared to be making preparations to move forward with removal this week, with no-parking signs posted nearby and neighbors notified that work was expected to begin in the coming days.

The 14-foot equestrian statue and its 50-foot base stand atop land annexed from Henrico County in the late 1890s. In the deed recording for the land transfer, the state “guaranteed” to “hold said statue and pedestal and circle of ground perpetually sacred to the monumental purpose” and to “faithfully guard it and affectionately protect it,” Gregory’s lawyer, Joseph Blackburn, argued in a court filing Monday.

“Our administration is still reviewing the order,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said. “Governor Northam remains committed to removing this divisive symbol from Virginia’s capital city, and we’re confident in his authority to do so.”

Blackburn emailed a copy of the order to The Washington Post on Monday evening but did not respond to requests for comment. The judge’s name is not clearly legible on the order.

Read the full story about the lawsuit over Richmond’s Robert E. Lee statue here.

Protesters decorate new barrier fence around White House

The miles of new fencing put up around the White House to prevent protesters from getting too close to the building has become a canvas for demonstrators to share messages in support of racial justice.

The fencing began going up around the complex a week ago after President Trump walked from the White House to visit a church that had been burned the night before. The president visited the church after tear gas was used to clear the area of demonstrators.

The fencing, which is over 8 feet tall, went up after multiple reports that Trump was rushed to a secure bunker during demonstrations in Washington.

However, the fences have become their own sort of destination. They have been converted into a makeshift crowd-sourced memorial wall — almost like an art gallery — to black men and women who lost their lives at the hands of police.

Hundreds of people were strolling, looking, adding names and paintings and posters on Monday.

The Secret Service said that areas around the White House, including Lafayette Park, would be closed until at least Wednesday, “in an effort to maintain the necessary security measures surrounding the White House complex, while also allowing for peaceful demonstration,” meaning the impromptu art gallery should stay up for at least a few more days.

Police chief in Portland, Oregon, resigns

SALEM, Ore. — Portland, Oregon’s police chief resigned on Monday, just six months into her job, amid criticism of her department’s handling of protests in Oregon’s largest city, and an African American lieutenant on the force replaced her.

The shakeup comes as police have been sharply criticized for using what has been called inappropriate force against some protesters as huge demonstrations continue in Portland.

“To say this was unexpected would be an understatement,” new Police Chief Chuck Lovell said at a news conference. “I’m humbled. I’m going to listen. I’m going to care about the community, and I’m looking forward to this journey.”

He and community leaders of color credited Jami Resch, who is white, for stepping down as George Floyd protests continue to roil the city.

Resch told the news conference that Lovell is “the exact right person at the exact right moment” to head the police department. Resch had replaced Danielle Outlaw, who was Portland’s first African American female police chief and who became Philadelphia police commissioner in February.

Resch said she suggested the shakeup to Mayor Ted Wheeler, who said he supported Lovell to lead the department as it moves through needed reforms.

“We need Chief Lovell’s leadership,” Wheeler said at the news conference. “We must re-imagine reform and rebuild what public safety looks like.”

Resch said she will stay with the department in a different role.

Demonstrators held two peaceful George Floyd protests in Portland but a third one that lasted until the early hours of Monday resulted in at least 20 arrests, with some demonstrators throwing objects at police, who fired tear gas and sponge-tipped projectiles.

The ACLU of Oregon has called on Portland police to end the use of tear gas, impact weapons and flash bang devices.

Hundreds line up for George Floyd’s memorial in Houston

HOUSTON — Hundreds of mourners lined up outside a church in George Floyd’s native Houston for a final public viewing Monday as his death two weeks ago at the hands of police continued whipping protesters, leaders and cities around the world into action over demands to address racial injustice and police brutality.

As the doors opened at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston, where Floyd spent most of his life, Floyd was lying in an open gold-colored casket, dressed in a brown suit and blue tie. His body was escorted to what organizers say will be a six-hour public viewing that was expected to draw thousands of mourners.

Mourners, many wearing masks and T-shirts with the words “I Can’t Breathe,” stood 6 feet apart as they paused briefly to view the casket. Some made the sign of the cross as they passed by. On the stage behind the casket were two identical murals of Floyd wearing a black cap that read “Houston” and angel wings drawn behind him.

Among those expected to attend the service was Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has called Floyd’s death a “horrific act of police brutality.”

Comill Adams, her husband Lamar Smith and their children, 8-year-old Shermame and 10-year-old Saniyah drove 7 1/2 hours from Oklahoma City to attend the public memorial.

“We had been watching the protests on TV. We’ve been at home feeling outraged. At times it brought us to tears,” Adams said. “The fact this one is causing change, we had to come be a part of.”

Adams and her family wore matching black T-shirts that had “George Floyd 1974-2020” on the front and “I Can’t Breathe” on the back. Adams said she had the shirts made for the memorial.

Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped responding. His death has inspired international protests and drawn new attention to the treatment of African Americans by police and the criminal justice system.

Even as the service began, the impact of his death continued to resonate internationally. In Paris, France’s top security official said police will no longer conduct chokeholds that have been blamed for multiple cases of asphyxiation and have come under renewed criticism after Floyd’s death. And in Washington, Democrats in Congress proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures, a potentially far-reaching legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.

Read the full story here.

Romney marches with evangelicals, becomes first Republican senator to join protests in D.C.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, on Sunday became the first Republican senator known to march in one of the District of Columbia’s anti-racist demonstrations after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis nearly two weeks ago.

Wearing a mask and garnering little overt notice from fellow protesters, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee marched alongside hundreds of evangelicals at the head of a column of demonstrators that eventually swelled to more than 1,000 people.

Romney said in an interview that he wanted to find “a way to end violence and brutality, and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.”

Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have waded through the throngs of outraged yet largely peaceful protesters in D.C., and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., toured the city’s newly named “Black Lives Matter Plaza” on Sunday morning with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat.

Last week, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, marched in his state. But Romney is the first Republican senator to publicize joining a demonstration.

President Donald Trump last week declared himself “your president of law and order,” and retweeted a letter from his former attorney John Dowd that referred to the protesters as “terrorists.”

Under a beating afternoon sun, protesters around Romney waved signs with biblical phrases and chanted: “Do justice! Do justice!”

At one point in the march, Romney held up his phone and – like so many other Americans have done in the past week – snapped a selfie of himself protesting. His quickly went viral.

Read the full story here.

Germany wants protesters to social distance

BERLIN — The German government is calling on people attending anti-racism protests to stick to coronavirus distancing rules.

At least 15,000 people demonstrated in Berlin and 25,000 protested in Munich on Saturday and there were protests in other German cities as part of the global demonstrations against racism and police brutality that have followed the May 25 death of American George Floyd.

In some cases, protesters were closely packed together despite German requirements for people to stay 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday “it is good if people take to the streets in Germany as well with a clear statement against racism.”

But he added: “the pictures that in some cases emerged over the weekend were not good. Both things must be possible: to demonstrate peacefully, which is a fundamental right, and keep to the (social distancing) rules.”

He said many demonstrators “created a big risk for themselves and others.”

Germany has been widely praised for its adroit handling of the pandemic.

UK prime minister says protests ‘subverted by thuggery’ after slave trader’s statue torn down

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says anti-racism demonstrations have been “subverted by thuggery” after protesters tore down a statue of a slave trader in the city of Bristol and scrawled graffiti on a statue of Winston Churchill in London.

London’s Metropolitan police say a dozen people were arrested and eight officers injured after demonstrators clashed Sunday with police in central London.

Johnson says while people have a right to peacefully protest, they have no right to attack the police. He says “these demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery – and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve.’’

Crime, Policing and Justice Minister Kit Malthouse called Monday for those responsible for toppling the bronze memorial to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol to be prosecuted.

But Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees told the BBC that while he doesn’t condone criminal damage, he felt no “sense of loss” for the statue.

Armed driver barrels toward Seattle protesters, shooting one before surrendering to police

A chaotic scene unfolded Sunday night in Seattle when an armed driver barreled toward a crowd of protesters, shooting one person who apparently tried to stop him, before ultimately surrendering to police, according to authorities and video footage of the incident.

The violence interrupted a peaceful protest in the name of George Floyd near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Videos showed protesters appearing to chase after a black Honda Civic as it sped down the street toward a larger crowd, slowing just as it crashed into a metal barrier near an intersection. One protester caught up to the vehicle, video by the Seattle Times shows. The man appeared to try to reach inside the driver’s side window, when a shot rang out.

The protester jolted backward, falling onto the pavement. Bystanders and medics rushed to his aid. The suspect, who has not been identified by police, then exited the vehicle, as the people who had just surrounded his car fled in all directions.

“He’s got a gun!” people screamed in video taken by a Seattle Times reporter.

The suspect then headed toward the heart of the protest where hundreds were gathered in the street. With nowhere to go, some raised their hands in the air. Some lay on the ground.

The man ran through the crowd toward the police line on the other side of the protesters.

Once he emerged from the crowd, he walked toward police with his hands in the air. He walked nearly all the way up to the police line before officers took him away, video of the arrest shows.

Seattle police said the unidentified suspect is in custody and that a gun was recovered from the scene.

The Seattle Fire Department said the 27-year-old victim was transported to the hospital and is in stable condition.

With George Floyd’s death, French anger grows over police brutality

PARIS — France’s government is scrambling to address growing concerns about police violence and racism within the police force, as protests sparked by George Floyd’s death in the U.S. stir up anger around the world.

The country’s top security official, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, was holding a news conference Monday after Floyd-related demonstrations in cities around France. Castaner promised last week to be “unforgiving” with violations by police, but pressure is growing on the government to act.

French President Emmanuel Macron has stayed unusually silent so far both about Floyd’s death and what’s happening in France. Macron’s office says he spoke to the prime minister and other top officials over the weekend, and asked Castaner to “accelerate” plans to improve police ethics that were initially promised in January.

Last week, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation into racist insults and instigating racial hatred based on comments allegedly published by police in a private Facebook group.

Website Streetpress published a string of offensive messages that it said were published within the group, though acknowledged that it is unclear whether the authors were actual police officers or people pretending to be police. Some of the reported comments mocked young men of color who have died fleeing police.

Separately, six police officers in the Normandy city of Rouen are under internal investigation over racist comments in a private WhatsApp group. Both incidents have prompted public concerns about extreme views among French police.

French activists say tensions in low-income neighborhoods with large minority populations grew worse amid coronavirus confinement measures, because they further empowered the police.

At least 23,000 people protested in cities around France on Saturday against racial injustice and police brutality, even defying a police ban on such protests in Paris due to fears about spreading coronavirus.

Activists marched Monday in the western city of Nantes, and more demonstrations are planned in France on Tuesday, when Floyd is being buried.

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka speaks out for Black Lives Matter, faces backlash

TOKYO – Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka is under online attack in her birthplace, after speaking out about racial injustice and encouraging people to join a Black Lives Matter protest march.

Hundreds of people turned out in Tokyo and Osaka over the weekend to express their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and to protest racial injustice in the United States – as well as racism in Japan.

The protesters also took aim at Japanese police for allegedly targeting foreigners, after a Kurdish man claimed to have been stopped by police for no reason and shoved to the ground.

The protests have reopened a debate about racism in Japan – and provoked a backlash from right-wing nationalists.

Many people hoped that the rise of tennis player Osaka, born to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, to the top of the women’s world rankings would help encourage Japanese society to take a more accepting attitude to people known as “hafu,” or half-Japanese.

Osaka moved to New York with her family when she was 3-years-old, but said last year she was giving up her U.S. citizenship to represent Japan in the Tokyo Olympics, because Japan’s Nationality Act stipulates those who hold dual citizenship must choose one before their 22nd birthday.

But for some nationalists, it seems that their acceptance of Osaka is grudging at best – or conditional on her keeping her mouth shut on political issues.

Osaka began speaking out against racial injustice in the United States on Twitter last week, before encouraging people in Japan to join a march in support of Black Lives Matter in the western city of Osaka on Sunday.

Her comments sparked a flood of angry response, with some people arguing that the protest could spark a rise in covid-19 infections, and others arguing that racism was not a problem in Japan, or even that the demonstrations were organized by left-wing activists with an agenda.

“Naomi Osaka does not seem to be the pride of Japan,” one person tweeted. “This is my own personal view after all, but I now recognize her as a terrorist. I do not want her to get involved in tennis, which is played by gentlemen.”

Ronaldinho is RELEASED from prison in Paraguay after serving just 32 days despite facing six-month sentence over fake passport with Brazil legend set to be placed on house arrest

• Ronaldinho has been released from prison in Paraguay after paying £1.3m bond 
• He was behind bars for 32 days after being faced with six months behind bars 
• The ex-Barcelona star and his brother were both charged with attempting to enter the country with fake passports last month 
• He is now set to be placed under house arrest at a hotel in the capital Asuncion 

By Oli Gamp For Mailonline

Published: 16:49 EDT, 7 April 2020 | Updated: 04:43 EDT, 8 April 2020

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Three days before his trial on 2015 drug charges, former NFL running back Dantrell Montganner Savage was arrested Friday by Columbus Police on charges of misdemeanor obstruction and traffic offenses.

Savage went live on Facebook about noon Friday and recorded his arrest by Officer Michael Aguilar, a member of the department’s Special Operations Unit. Savage’s video lasted more than seven minutes before he was taken into custody.

The Facebook live video got more than 150 shares and 8,000 views over the weekend.

Savage, 33, was pulled over while driving his 2010 Acura sedan near the Warm Springs Connector and Manchester Expressway for failure to maintain his lane, according to a police report.

Savage urged those watching the Facebook video to share it.

“You know they f—–g with me again,” he said. “For what particular reason, I don’t know.”

He stayed live as Aguilar went to his patrol car and then returned to Savage’s vehicle. The officer was asking about proof of insurance.

He asked Savage if he had any illegal narcotics or weapons in the vehicle. Savage did not immediately respond. The standoff lasted several minutes as a second police vehicle with a drug dog pulled up, said Savage’s attorney Stacey Jackson. After the second police car arrived, Aguilar told Savage he was going to search the vehicle.

Savage argued with the officer.

“The problem is you’re not listening,” Aguilar told Savage.

Savage again refused to let police search the vehicle. Aguilar then charged Savage with obstruction. Police also cited Savage for failing to maintain his traffic lane and having a cracked windshield.

“I find it ironic that since 2015, he hasn’t had any run-ins with anyone, then the Friday before the trial a Special Operations officer pulls him over and keeps him there long enough for a dog to do an open-air search,” Jackson said. “Even with probable cause, they didn’t find anything.”

Police found nothing illegal when they searched Savage’s vehicle, Jackson said.

Savage was released on bond Friday afternoon.

On October 27, 2015, Savage was charged with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it and possessing drug-related objects. His trial before Superior Court Judge Ron Mullins is to begin Tuesday. He also faces a third charge of possessing methamphetamine, according to court records.

Attorneys picked a jury Monday.

Savage and codefendant Jessie James Smith Sr., now 53, were arrested in 2015 at a 33rd Street gym named Savage Fitness Evolution, where Savage had two plastic bags containing a total 28 grams of meth, police said. He and Smith also had three digital scales, investigators said.

The arrests stemmed from an undercover drug sting in which the Columbus Police Department Special Operations Unit twice had an informant use marked cash to purchase meth while recording the transaction on surveillance cameras, authorities said.

The informant dealt with Smith, who told police he was a gym employee, investigators said. Savage was nearby during one transaction, and Smith referred to Savage during the second buy, saying he needed to go see “T,” Savage’s nickname, police Cpl. Vincent Dragnett testified during a preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

The first transaction was Oct. 7, 2015, in the gym’s garage area, and the next was the following Oct. 15, officers said. They served a search warrant at the gym 12 days later.

During the search, police confiscated $44,500 in cash, which Savage said came from a settlement involving an accident, Dragnett testified.

Smith pleaded guilty Sept. 26, 2016 to possessing meth with the intent to distribute it, and possessing drug-related objects. Prosecutors dropped two counts of selling meth, and Mullins sentenced Smith to five years in prison with 36 months to serve and the rest on probation.

A graduate of Columbus’ Jordan High School, Savage was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State. He played with the Chiefs for two seasons, mostly serving on special teams before getting cut in March 2010.

He was signed to the Carolina Panthers in August 2010, but was released before the 2010-11 season started.

Professional football player Demetrius Harris is the latest high-profile victim in America’s racially charged and backwards war on weed.

According to initial reports from TMZ and a follow-up from the Kansas City Star, Harris was arrested in August 2017 after a routine traffic stop in Bates County, Mississippi turned up 35 grams of marijuana and an unnamed piece of drug paraphernalia. Harris, a passenger in the car, was initially charged with felony marijuana possession and a misdemeanor for the paraphernalia. Eventually, in return for having the cannabis charge reduced to a misdemeanor, Harris was persuaded to plead guilty to both crimes.

Since Mississippi is one of America’s remaining states with hardline reefer madness drug laws still on the books, Harris was called back to the Magnolia State last week for a sentencing hearing, where a Bates County judge sentenced the professional football player to two days in jail, two years of probation, and 80 days of community service. Additionally, as cannabis is still on the NFL’s banned substances list, Harris will be required to enter the league’s substance abuse program.

Even though Harris was taken into custody at the time of the arrest last year, he was not awarded time served. Therefore, the athlete entered a Bates County jail on March 9th, and has since completed the first part of his punishment.

And while two days in jail might seem like a minor sentence, even for possession of a plant that is entirely legal in nine states and Washington D.C., the additional years of probation added to Harris’ time behind bars highlights the unnecessary stranglehold that the criminal justice system has on minor convicts, particularly people of color.

In a new investigation by Rolling Stone into the continued legal troubles of Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, who has been in and out of jail on probation violations that stem from a 2008 weapons charge, reporter Paul Solotaroff details how an initially minor charge can lead to a life of court dates and criminal accusations, even for lauded celebrities.

“Here is the trap of our post-conviction system: Defendants, even famous ones, live at the mercy of their judge and probation officer,” Solotaroff details. “It’s one thing to toe the line while holding a nine-to-five. But to live a spotless life while chasing the prize in hip-hop? Now, there’s a manual someone needs to write.”

Similarly, Harris’ life as a professional football player, including traveling out of state to away games, potential media appearances and endorsement meetings, is not conducive to the life of a probationer, despite his undeniably positive societal role as an athlete. Like Meek Mill, Harris will be liable to be sent back to jail for any number of minor infractions, including missteps as small as scheduling conflicts — all for being charged with a bag of weed that could have been purchased legally at a store in any number of states.

Harris will also need to resolve the issue with the NFL, a notoriously anti-cannabis employer, despite the league’s highly publicized love affair with painkillers. Harris is on the last year of his current contract with the Chiefs, and will need to sell himself in free agency next offseason, a task that could prove incredibly hard with a criminal conviction shadowing him at every potential meeting.

Harris is just one of nearly a million people per year who are arrested for nonviolent cannabis crimes in the U.S. Until cannabis reform is adopted on a national scale, Americans, and especially people of color, will continue to be persecuted and subsequently roped into a system that can hold one down for years.

As of press time, the Kansas City Chiefs, Harris’ current team, have not released a comment concerning the tight end’s sentence.

Follow Zach Harris on Twitter