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Critics of Donald Trump believe he may be using racist dogwhistles while discussing Black litigators and political opponents in the wake of his latest indictment. Mr Trump was indicted yet again, this time in Georgia. On Monday, Fulton County prosecutors accused him of trying to manipulate the 2020 presidential election results in the Peach State. He took to Truth Social to announce that a "large, complex, detailed but irrefutable REPORT" proving his election fraud claims in Georgia would be presented on 21 August. In addition to the grand announcement, he also dropped a weird noun that left some observers sceptical of its intended use. "There will be a complete EXONERATION!" Mr Trump wrote of his upcoming presser. "They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that found to find the RIGGERS!." Whether or not Mr Trump intended to describe his political enemies using a word that is one letter away from being an exceptionally offensive slur is unclear. What is clear is that plenty of observers noted his use of the word. Arieh Kovler, a current affairs and politics writer, collected a sampling of responses from a group of Trump supporters who post anonymously at a Reddit-like forum. "I don't know if Trump deliberately uses 'RIGGERS!' as a dog-whistle, but his supporters hear it either way," he wrote. “Worth noting here that the ‘riggers’ as a racist codeword has been used for a while in MAGA circles.” Mr Kovler included a screenshot from the site showing one user who said "I love [Trump] so much" because "he just used the word RIGGERS!" In other posts, supporters made clear they were not discussing alleged election manipulators while using the word. Similar responses could be found on Twitter when searching about Mr Trump’s use of the word. Mr Trump making racist-adjacent remarks is hardly novel. During his presidency he reportedly questioned why the US would allow Haitians and African immigrants to cross the border, referring to their homes as "s***hole countries." His niece, Mary Trump, has stated publicly that she heard the former president use racial slurs growing up and claimed racism was normal for his family. And he has given special nicknames for his Black opponents — like calling New York Attorney General "peekaboo James," which may or may not be a reference to a racist insult aimed at Black people. He also called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an "animal" and a "criminal" who works for George Soros. He called both Ms James and Mr Bragg "racists" and extended that charge to the woman leading Georgia's case against him, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williams. Ms Williams is Black, and Mr Trump has baselessly accused her of having an affair with a "gang member" she was prosecuting. “They say there’s a young woman, a young racist in Atlanta. She’s a racist. And they say, I guess they say that she was after a certain gang and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang or a gang member,” Mr Trump said in his remarks to a group of veterans on 8 August. “And this is the person that wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems.” In contrast, when referring to DOJ special counsel Jack Smith, the white litigator leading the federal government's case against Mr Trump, the former president refers to him as "psycho" and "unhinged." Mr Trump has denied all accusations of being racist. Read More MAGA conspiracy theorist Kari Lake rails against Trump indictment – with conspiracy about Epstein’s death How ‘gangster’ Trump could be destroyed by one explosive phone call Trump lashes out on Truth Social over Georgia election plot charges – and spells ‘indicted’ wrong Christie takes second place from DeSantis in New Hampshire: poll Watch live view of Georgia courthouse after Donald Trump’s indictment Kari Lake rails against Trump indictment – with conspiracy about Epstein’s death

Ex-president Donald Trump and 18 other defendants were indicted in Georgia on 41 counts related to their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election which includes violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. A grand jury in Fulton County Georgia handed down the indictment on Monday, stemming from a years-long investigation by district attorney Fani Willis. Jurors found Mr Trump along with some of his allies including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell and Mark Meadows of “knowingly and willfully” joining a conspiracy to “unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump” in Georgia. Each defendant is facing a specific set of charges unique to their alleged involvement. Read the indictment in full here: Read More Trump indictment live: Trump and allies indicted by Georgia grand jury in 2020 election investigation Trump and 18 allies indicted on RICO charges in Georgia election case Trump indicted for efforts to overturn 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Follow live updates

Richard Nixon’s former White House counsel John Dean has summed up the magnitude of Donald Trump’s latest criminal indictment with five words. “It’s much bigger than Watergate,” he said. The former president and 18 of his allies were hit with a total of 41-count indictment under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute on Monday, for allegedly running a widespread criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Dean, who was famously convicted over the Watergate scandal, appeared on CNN after the indictment was handed down where he said that Mr Trump’s alleged crimes go to a “whole different dimension” beyond the scandal which plagued Mr Nixon. “It’s of a whole different dimension. It goes to the very foundation of democracy,” he said of the case against Mr Trump. “Nixon abused some powers, he exceeded his authority when he shouldn’t but he wasn’t taking on the basics of the country. “Trump wanted to stay in office. He wanted to use Georgia and abuse Georgia as part of that plan so this is very different and much more serious and much more troubling.” Dean added that he thought it was “very likely” that one or more of Mr Trump’s co-defendants in the case would flip on the former president – something that he did during the Watergate scandal. The former White House counsel to Mr Nixon ended up taking a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and admitting that he supervised the hush money payments made to the Watergate burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters to plant listening devices and photograph secret documents. In the sweeping 98-page indictment against Mr Trump, returned by the state grand jury late on Monday, the former president is one of 19 defendants charged, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The other co-defendants are: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell, attorneys John Eastman, Kenneth Cheseboro, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith III, and Robert Cheeley, former US Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, former Trump campaign official Michael Roman, former state senator and the former chair of the Georgia Republican Party David Schafer, Georgia state senator Shawn Still, Lutheran pastor Stephen Lee, mixed martial artist Harrison Floyd, Kanye West’s former PR Trevian Kutti, former head of the Republican Party in Coffee County Cathleen Latham, Atlanta-area bail bondsman Scott Hall, and former election supervisor of Coffee County Misty Hampton. Mr Trump was charged with 13 criminal counts of: violating RICO’s statute, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of conspiracy to make false statements under oath, two counts of conspiracy to file false documents, two counts of solicitation of a public officer, filing false documents, conspiracy to solicit false statements, and making false statements. According to the indictment, “Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump”. DA Willis announced the charges and arrest warrants for the defendants at a late-night press conference outside the courthouse on Monday, where she ordered each of the 19 defendants to surrender to Georgia authorities by 12pm ET on Friday 25 August. “Specifically, the participants ... took various actions in Georgia and elsewhere to block the counting of the votes of the presidential electors who were certified as the winners of Georgia’s 2020 general election,” she said. “As you examine the indictment, you will see acts that are identified as overt acts and those that are identified as predicate acts, sometimes called acts of racketeering activity. overt acts are not necessarily crimes under Georgia law in isolation, but are alleged to be acts taken in furtherance of the conspiracy. “Many occurred in Georgia, and some occurred in other jurisdictions and are included, because the grand jury believes they were part of the illegal effort to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.” She added: “The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result.” All of the 19 defendants were charged with violating the state’s RICO statute – a Nixon-era federal law originally passed to prosecute organised crime groups and Mafia crime syndicates. The indictment accuses Mr Trump and his allies of orchestrating and running a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere, to “accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office, beginning on January 20, 2021”. Mr Trump railed against “out of control” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis – and spelled “indicted” wrong – in a Truth Social rant over the indictment in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday. “So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump’,” he fumed. “And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! “Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!” In an appearance on Fox News Digital on Monday night, he called the indictment “politically-inspired” and said that DA Willis “should focus on the people that rigged the 2020 presidential election, not those who demand an answer as to what happened”. “Nineteen people were indicted, and the whole world is laughing at the United States as they see how corrupt and horrible a place it has turned out to be under the leadership of Crooked Joe Biden,” he claimed. Mr Trump continued: “This politically-inspired indictment, which could have been brought close to three years ago, was tailored for placement right smack in the middle of my political campaign. “Just like she has allowed Atlanta to go to hell with all of its crime and violence, so too has Joe Biden allowed the United States of America to go to the same place with millions of people invading our country, inflation, bad economy, no energy, and lack of respect all over the world.” The DA has spent more than two years investigating efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the crucial swing state. The investigation came following the release of a 2 January 2021 phone call Mr Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he told him to “find” enough votes to change the outcome of the election in the state. “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Mr Trump is heard saying in the leaked phone call. “Because we won the state.” Mr Biden won the state by less than 12,000 votes. The investigation then expanded from that phone call to include a scheme whereby a group of fake Republican electors planned to falsely certify the results in Mr Trump’s favour instead of Mr Biden’s. The plot failed and the fake electors have since reached immunity deals with DA Willis’ office. Ms Willis said she would like to try the defendants altogether and within the next six months. In total, the former president is now facing 91 charges from four separate criminal cases. On 1 August, he was hit with a federal indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, following an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith’s office. Mr Trump was hit with four federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. In that case, the Justice Department alleged that Mr Trump and his circle of co-conspirators – who did not face charges – knew that he had lost the election but launched a multi-prong conspiracy to do everything they could to enable him to cling to power. This included spreading “knowingly false claims of election fraud to get state legislators and election officials to subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes for the Defendant’s opponent, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., to electoral votes for the Defendant”, the indictment states. Mr Trump and his allies also allegedly plotted to send slates of fake electors to seven “targeted states” of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin which President Joe Biden had won – to get them to falsely certify the election for Mr Trump. The indictment also alleges Mr Trump tried to use the DOJ to “conduct sham election crime investigations”, sending letters to the seven states claiming that “significant concerns” had been found in the elections in those states. As well as the false claims about the election being stolen from Mr Trump, the scheme also involved pushing false claims that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to alter the results – and pushing Mr Pence to “fraudulently alter the election results”. When Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a violent attack that ended with five deaths, Mr Trump and his co-conspirators “exploited” the incident by “redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims,” the indictment claims. This came after Mr Smith’s office charged Mr Trump for the first time over his alleged mishandling of classified documents on leaving office. Back in April, Mr Trump was charged for the first time with New York state charges following an investigation into hush money payments made prior to the 2016 election. Read More Trump indictment live: Trump reacts as he and 18 allies charged over Georgia election plot Trump lashes out on Truth Social over Georgia election plot charges – and spells ‘indicted’ wrong In full: The bombshell charges against Trump and his allies in Georgia RICO case What’s next for Donald Trump after his Georgia indictment? All of Trump’s lawsuits and criminal charges - and where they stand Can Donald Trump still run for president after charges over 2020 election?

Donald Trump will face yet another arraignment, this time in Fulton County, Georgia, after he was indicted on 13 charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. On Monday evening, Mr Trump was charged with violating the RICO Act as well as other charges alleging conspiracy, making false statements and filing false documents related to his combined efforts with 18 other named defendants in changing election results. The charges stem from an investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into Mr Trump and his allies’ actions in the state in the days and weeks after the 2020 election. These actions included an infamous phone call that Mr Trump made to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, in which Mr Trump asked him to “find” 11,780 votes. It also detailed a plot to install fake state electors. Now, Mr Trump will have to add another series of court hearings for this case, including his official arraignment, to his already packed schedule. Here’s what we know about what’s next for Mr Trump in the Georgia indictment. When is the arraignment? Mr Trump’s arraignment date has not been set yet. But in a press conference on Monday evening, Ms Willis announced that arrest warrants have been issued for Mr Trump and his 18 co-defendants and gave them a deadline of 25 August at noon to surrender. Will there be cameras in the courtroom? Georgia law is unique in that it requires cameras be allowed in judicial proceedings so long as the judge approves it. Mr Trump’s upcoming arraignment is likely to be televised, just as parts of Monday’s indictment were. This will mark the first publicly available viewing of the ex-president’s slew of criminal indictments. The New York indictment and both federal indictments did not have cameras in the courtroom. According to the law, Georgia believes televised proceedings promote “access to and understanding of court proceedings not only by the participants in them but also by the general public”. In order for a judge to prevent cameras in the courtroom, they would need a compelling reason like a child victim or witness. Will Trump receive a mugshot and fingerprints? Like his previous arraignments, Mr Trump will be fingerprinted, as is customary with criminal charges. In the past, the ex-president did not have a mugshot taken because he is considered a notable person therefore an identifying mugshot was unnecessary. However, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told WSB-TV earlier this month that Mr Trump likely will pose for a mugshot because he will be treated like any other person. “Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you,” Mr Labat said. Will he get bail? More than likely, Mr Trump will be released on bail or bond of some sort. In all his previous arraignments, the ex-president was released on a bond given his notable status. In his most recent federal arraignment related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Mr Trump was released on an appearance bond and under strict rules. During the ex-president’s first federal arraignment for his alleged retention of classified documents, Mr Trump signed a personal surety bond. In April, a New York judge allowed Mr Trump to walk without bail as well. A bond is usually set to ensure a defendant appears in court. A judge can outright deny bond which then requires the defendant to be taken into custody to await trial. Read More Live updates: Georgia grand jury in Trump 2020 election interference case returns 10 indictments How prosecutors could charge Trump with racketeering in Georgia case Georgia witness calls Trump ‘worst candidate’ and says GOP must ‘take our medicine’ and admit fair elections What’s next for Donald Trump after his Georgia indictment? All of Trump’s lawsuits and criminal charges - and where they stand Can Donald Trump still run for president after charges over 2020 election?

Notes on the media in Afghanistan and links to Afghan broadcasters and newspapers.

Finland’s former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said Tuesday he will run as a candidate in the presidential election early next year, in a race that also includes a popular former Finnish foreign minister who was a key negotiator of the Nordic country’s recent membership in NATO. Stubb, 55, who headed the Finnish government in 2014-2015 and later served as foreign minister, said he was “both honored and thankful for the trust bestowed upon me.” Prime Minister Petteri Opo and Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party had asked him to run. The Finnish head of state is elected by a popular vote every six years. Finland’s president has substantial powers, particularly in matters related to foreign and security policy, which the president decides together with the government. The president also signs bills into law, can veto legislative proposals and acts as Finland’s supreme military commander. The two-leg Finnish presidential elections will be held in January and February 2024. Stubb's candidacy is important for Finland's center-right parties, Finnish broadcaster YLE said, noting that Stubb has a “phenomenal ability to collect votes” and that there is widespread respect for his language skills, international contacts and ability to make quick decisions. Stubb, who is known for being very active on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, will face the popular former Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto among others. Haavisto, the former leader of the Greens party, will run as an independent candidate. He stepped down as foreign minister following April’s general election, which the center-side won, ousting a center-left government. Haavisto is one of Finland’s most popular politicians and topped recent presidential polls by several media outlets. He was the runner-up in the 2012 and 2018 presidential elections but was beaten on both occasions by current President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term ends in March 2024. He is not eligible for reelection. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

Donald Trump railed against “out of control” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis – and spelled “indicted” wrong – as he hit back at the sweeping 98-page indictment handed down in Georgia. The former president and 18 of his allies were hit with a total of 41 criminal counts under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, over their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Taking to Truth Social in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, the former president ranted that the indictment is “rigged” and a “Witch Hunt”, while also managing to mispel the “indicted” as “Indicated”. “So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump’,” he fumed. “And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! “Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!” In an appearance on Fox News Digital on Monday night, he called the indictment “politically-inspired” and said that DA Willis “should focus on the people that rigged the 2020 presidential election, not those who demand an answer as to what happened”. “This politically-inspired indictment, which could have been brought close to three years ago, was tailored for placement right smack in the middle of my political campaign,” Mr Trump said. “Just like she has allowed Atlanta to go to hell with all of its crime and violence, so too has Joe Biden allowed the United States of America to go to the same place with millions of people invading our country, inflation, bad economy, no energy, and lack of respect all over the world.” In the sweeping indictment, Mr Trump was charged with 13 criminal counts of: violating RICO’s statute, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of conspiracy to make false statements under oath, two counts of conspiracy to file false documents, two counts of solicitation of a public officer, filing false documents, conspiracy to solicit false statements, and making false statements. In total, the former president is facing 91 charges from four separate criminal cases. On 1 August, he was hit with a federal indictment over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, following an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith’s office. Mr Trump was hit with four federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. In that case, the Justice Department alleged that Mr Trump and his circle of co-conspirators – who did not face charges – knew that he had lost the election but launched a multi-prong conspiracy to do everything they could to enable him to cling to power. This included spreading “knowingly false claims of election fraud to get state legislators and election officials to subvert the legitimate election results and change electoral votes for the Defendant’s opponent, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., to electoral votes for the Defendant”, the indictment states. Mr Trump and his allies also allegedly plotted to send slates of fake electors to seven “targeted states” of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin which President Joe Biden had won – to get them to falsely certify the election for Mr Trump. The indictment also alleges Mr Trump tried to use the DOJ to “conduct sham election crime investigations”, sending letters to the seven states claiming that “significant concerns” had been found in the elections in those states. As well as the false claims about the election being stolen from Mr Trump, the scheme also involved pushing false claims that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to alter the results – and pushing Mr Pence to “fraudulently alter the election results”. When Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a violent attack that ended with five deaths, Mr Trump and his co-conspirators “exploited” the incident by “redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims,” the indictment claims. This came after Mr Smith’s office charged Mr Trump for the first time over his alleged mishandling of classified documents on leaving office. Back in April, Mr Trump was charged for the first time with New York state charges following an investigation into hush money payments made prior to the 2016 election. Read More Trump indictment live: Trump and 18 allies ordered to surrender on RICO charges for Georgia election plot In full: The bombshell charges against Trump and his allies in Georgia RICO case How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet and other case takeaways Live updates: Trump and 18 allies ordered to surrender on RICO charges in Georgia Watch: Trump and 18 allies indicted in Georgia over bid to reverse 2020 election loss How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet and other case takeaways

Six white former police officers pleaded guilty on Monday to state charges for torturing two Black men. The men had sworn an oath to protect and serve were huddled on the back porch of a Mississippi home as Michael Corey Jenkins lay on the ground, blood gushing from his mutilated tongue where one of the police officers shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The roughly 90-minute period of terror preceding the shooting began late on January 24 after a white neighbor called Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman inside a Braxton home. McAlpin tipped off Deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies who called themselves “The Goon Squad,” a moniker they adopted because of their willingness to use excessive force. “Are y’all available for a mission?” Dedmon asked. They were. Five of the former officers are from Rankin County Sheriff’s Office – Chief Investigator Brett McAlpin, Narcotics Investigator Christian Dedmon, Lieutenant Jeffrey Middleton, Deputy Hunter Elward, and Deputy Daniel Opdyke – while one is from the Richland Police Department, Narcotics Investigator Joshua Hartfield. Some of the group calls themselves the “Goon Squad,” as they were known for “using excessive force and not reporting it.” All pleaded guilty to state charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. Each reached individual plea agreements that include prison sentences ranging from five to 30 years, according to court records obtained by the Associated Press. The guilty pleas to the state charges arrive just over a week after all six men also pleaded guilty to 16 federal felonies “stemming from the torture and physical abuse” of two Black men. They will be sentenced for the federal charges in mid-November. According to the Justice Department’s release earlier this month, the officers admitted kicking in a door and entering a home belonging to two Black men – Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker on 24 January – without a warrant. The two men were handcuffed and arrested – without probable cause to believe they had committed any crime. The officers “called them racial slurs, and warned them to stay out of Rankin County,” according to the release. The officers reportedly “punched and kicked” Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker, “tased them 17 times, forced them to ingest liquids, and assaulted them with a dildo.” Court records detail how they burst into a home without a warrant, handcuffed Jenkins and Parker, assaulted them with a sex toy and beat Parker with wood and a metal sword. They poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces and then forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. Then one of them put a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and fired. As Jenkins lay bleeding, they didn’t render medical aid. They knew the mission had gone too far and devised a hasty cover-up scheme that included a fictitious narcotics bust, a planted gun and drugs, stolen surveillance footage and threats. The deputies were under the watch of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who called it the worst episode of police brutality he has seen in his career. On top of other torturous behaviour, the former officers devised a cover-up, involving making false statements and charging the two men with crimes they did not commit, but also neglected to provide medical aid to them. Law enforcement misconduct in the U.S. has come under increased scrutiny, largely focused on how Black people are treated by the police. The 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police ignited calls for sweeping criminal justice reforms and a reassessment of American race relations. The January beating death of Tyre Nichols by five Black members of a special police squad in Memphis, Tennessee, led to a probe of similar units nationwide. In Rankin County, the brutality visited upon Jenkins and Parker was not a botched police operation, but an assembly of rogue officers “who tortured them all under the authority of a badge, which they disgraced,” U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca said. The county just east of the state capital, Jackson, is home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city. A towering granite-and-marble monument topped by a Confederate soldier stands across the street from the sheriff’s office. The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” court documents say, referencing an area with higher concentrations of Black residents. Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the trauma “is magnified because the misconduct was fueled by racial bias and hatred.” She mentioned another dark chapter in Mississippi law enforcement: the 1964 kidnapping and killing of three civil rights workers. The violent police misconduct is a reminder “there is still much to be done,” Clarke said. Read More Former Mississippi officers expected to plead guilty to state charges for racist assault Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice Civil suit can continue against corrupt former deputy linked to death of Mississippi man

Six white former police officers pleaded guilty on Monday to state charges for torturing two Black men. The men had sworn an oath to protect and serve were huddled on the back porch of a Mississippi home as Michael Corey Jenkins lay on the ground, blood gushing from his mutilated tongue where one of the police officers shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. The roughly 90-minute period of terror preceding the shooting began late on January 24 after a white neighbor called Rankin County Deputy Brett McAlpin and complained that two Black men were staying with a white woman inside a Braxton home. McAlpin tipped off Deputy Christian Dedmon, who texted a group of white deputies who called themselves “The Goon Squad,” a moniker they adopted because of their willingness to use excessive force. “Are y’all available for a mission?” Dedmon asked. They were. Five of the former officers are from Rankin County Sheriff’s Office – Chief Investigator Brett McAlpin, Narcotics Investigator Christian Dedmon, Lieutenant Jeffrey Middleton, Deputy Hunter Elward, and Deputy Daniel Opdyke – while one is from the Richland Police Department, Narcotics Investigator Joshua Hartfield. Some of the group calls themselves the “Goon Squad,” as they were known for “using excessive force and not reporting it.” All pleaded guilty to state charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to hinder prosecution. Each reached individual plea agreements that include prison sentences ranging from five to 30 years, according to court records obtained by the Associated Press. The guilty pleas to the state charges arrive just over a week after all six men also pleaded guilty to 16 federal felonies “stemming from the torture and physical abuse” of two Black men. They will be sentenced for the federal charges in mid-November. According to the Justice Department’s release earlier this month, the officers admitted kicking in a door and entering a home belonging to two Black men – Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker on 24 January – without a warrant. The two men were handcuffed and arrested – without probable cause to believe they had committed any crime. The officers “called them racial slurs, and warned them to stay out of Rankin County,” according to the release. The officers reportedly “punched and kicked” Mr Jenkins and Mr Parker, “tased them 17 times, forced them to ingest liquids, and assaulted them with a dildo.” Court records detail how they burst into a home without a warrant, handcuffed Jenkins and Parker, assaulted them with a sex toy and beat Parker with wood and a metal sword. They poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces and then forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. Then one of them put a gun in Jenkins’ mouth and fired. As Jenkins lay bleeding, they didn’t render medical aid. They knew the mission had gone too far and devised a hasty cover-up scheme that included a fictitious narcotics bust, a planted gun and drugs, stolen surveillance footage and threats. The deputies were under the watch of Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, who called it the worst episode of police brutality he has seen in his career. On top of other torturous behaviour, the former officers devised a cover-up, involving making false statements and charging the two men with crimes they did not commit, but also neglected to provide medical aid to them. Law enforcement misconduct in the U.S. has come under increased scrutiny, largely focused on how Black people are treated by the police. The 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police ignited calls for sweeping criminal justice reforms and a reassessment of American race relations. The January beating death of Tyre Nichols by five Black members of a special police squad in Memphis, Tennessee, led to a probe of similar units nationwide. In Rankin County, the brutality visited upon Jenkins and Parker was not a botched police operation, but an assembly of rogue officers “who tortured them all under the authority of a badge, which they disgraced,” U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca said. The county just east of the state capital, Jackson, is home to one of the highest percentages of Black residents of any major U.S. city. A towering granite-and-marble monument topped by a Confederate soldier stands across the street from the sheriff’s office. The officers warned Jenkins and Parker to “stay out of Rankin County and go back to Jackson or ‘their side’ of the Pearl River,” court documents say, referencing an area with higher concentrations of Black residents. Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the trauma “is magnified because the misconduct was fueled by racial bias and hatred.” She mentioned another dark chapter in Mississippi law enforcement: the 1964 kidnapping and killing of three civil rights workers. The violent police misconduct is a reminder “there is still much to be done,” Clarke said. Read More Former Mississippi officers expected to plead guilty to state charges for racist assault Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice Civil suit can continue against corrupt former deputy linked to death of Mississippi man

A sprawling indictment targeting Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn election results in the state of Georgia includes 18 co-defendants, including his former White House chief of staff, several Trump-allied attorneys, and the so-called “fake” electors who joined a scheme to subvert the outcome. All are charged under the state’s anti-racketeering statute, marking one of the largest criminal cases against the former president and his allies for alleged crimes committed while he was in office in an attempt to remain in power at whatever cost. Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Kenneth Cheseboro and Jenna Ellis are among the 19 defendants, along with former US Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, several Trump aides, and those falsely appointed as “alternate” Georgia electors. The indictment alleges 40 separate crimes. “Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” according to the indictment. “That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.” Mr Trump and the 18 others named in the indictment are accused of making false statements in an effort to fraudulently persuade state officials, the US Department of Justice and Vice President Mike Pence to reject lawful votes and select a slate of electors loyal to the former president despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. They also are accused of traveling to the state to harass an election worker, “intimidate her, and solicit her to falsely confess to election crimes that she did not commit.” Mr Trump and others also “corruptly conspired” to illegally access voting machines in the state, some of which was removed – “including ballot images, voting equipment software, and personal voter information” – and then “distributed to other members of the enterprise, including members in other states.” This is a developing story Read More Trump indictment live: Trump and allies indicted by Georgia grand jury in 2020 election investigation Read Fani Willis’ explosive Georgia indictment against Trump and his inner circle

Part of Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia was televised after a judge decided in the media’s favour. The Fulton County superior court judge presiding over the grand jury in the case, Robert McBurney, told reporters that “if a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” The Messenger reported. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis presented her case to the jury on Monday, which voted to indict Mr Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. There are 13 felony charges against Trump, including RICO, conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer and more. In addition, 18 Trump associates have also been indicted, including former White House chief of staff mark Meadows and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. When Mr Trump was indicted on the federal level, cameras weren’t allowed in court. Ms Willis has been investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state and was expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury this week. It would be Mr Trump’s fourth indictment within the span of five months. There was plenty of confusion regarding possible charges against Mr Trump in the Georgia election interference case. Reuters reported on Monday that a document outlining the charges against Mr Trump had been posted and then removed from the Fulton County website. Mr Trump then used the document to ask for donations from his supporters, arguing that he was being denied due process. The Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts then issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying that a “fictitious” document had been shared online. “While there have been no documents filed today regarding such, all members of the media should be reminded that documents that do not bear an official case number, filing date, and the name of The Clerk of Courts, in concert, are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such,” the court said. They added that “Media members can expect to be notified of any/all filings in real-time and will be provided access to filings via equitable communication”. Read More Trump’s Georgia case hit by chaos as court accused of posting and deleting charge sheet - latest How prosecutors could charge Trump with racketeering in Georgia case Can Donald Trump pardon himself?

A Georgia grand jury has returned indictments against former president Donald Trump and a wide swath of his confidantes and allies who prosecutors allege to have participated in a criminal enterprise with the goal of overturning the disgraced ex-president’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Grand jurors returned indictments against against Mr Trump and 18 other defendants late Monday after hearing from a number of key witnesses in the long-running Georgia election probe, including Gabe Sterling, who served as a top manager in the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in late 2020, and Geoff Duncan, the state’s former Republican lieutenant governor. Although the courthouse closes normally around 5.00 pm ET, authorities reportedly asked grand jurors to stay until approximately 9.00 pm to finish voting on what a cover sheet delivered to Judge Robert McBurney indicated to be 10 separate indictments. But the 98-page document unsealed later Monday evening was the only set of charges pertaining to Mr Trump and his co-defendants, a group which includes his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, ex-law professor John Eastman, Trump campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro, and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been understood to be considering seeking charges against the ex-president under the state’s wide-ranging Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations statute, which is itself patterned after a Nixon-era federal law passed to combat the Italian-American Mafia crime syndicates. The former president is charged with violating Georgia’s Rico law, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Impersonating a Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree, Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings, Filing False Documents and other charges stemming from his efforts to pressure Georgia officials into fraudulently reversing his loss and his role in a scheme which purported to submit what were forged electoral college certificates to the National Archives. Other charges referenced in the charging document include Impersonating a Public Officer and Criminal Attempt to Commit Influencing Witnesses. The grand jury which returned the indictments against Mr Trump and his co-defendants was the second to hear evidence against the ex-president as part of a long-running probe which Ms Willis first announced in early 2021, not long after a recording emerged of Mr Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough non-existent votes in his favour to justify decertifying the state’s presidential election results. She subsequently asked the Fulton County District Court to empanel a special grand jury to investigate Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. That investigation, which wrapped up late last year, saw witnesses from all over the country summoned to give evidence behind closed doors in the Fulton County courthouse. Because special grand juries are not permitted to issue indictments under Georgia law, Ms Willis had to present that grand jury’s findings to a second, regular grand jury which began to meet in July. Mr Trump, who is also facing criminal charges from a local district attorney in his former home state of New York and set to be tried on Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges in a Florida federal court next May, had unsuccessfully sought to have Ms Willis blocked from prosecuting him and has asked two Georgia courts to throw out the entire special grand jury proceeding, citing alleged deficiencies in the law providing for special grand juries and Ms Willis’ attendance at Democratic political fundraisers. Judge McBurney, the Fulton County Superior Court jurist who has been overseeing the proceedings for the last two years, wrote in a ruling issued last month that Mr Trump and a co-plaintiff who was one of the fake electors under investigation had lacked any standing to challenge the investigation in a pre-indictment phase. “The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” he said. “They are insufficient because, while being subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.” Judge McBurney also called Mr Trump and his co-plantiff’s “professed injuries” from being targets of the investigation “speculative and unrealized” because neither has been indicted as of yet, and the mere possibility of an indictment “not enough to create a controversy, cause an injury, or confer standing”. Now, with charges against him having been officially approved by a grand jury, Mr Trump could seek to renew the litigation. But unlike in the two federal cases pending against him, the former president cannot count on regaining the power of the presidency or help from a Republican ally in the Georgia governor’s mansion to protect him. Unlike many US states, the Peach State does not grand its’ chief executive the authority to issue pardons for crimes committed against the state. Instead, pardon power is delegated to a nonpartisan board, and it can only be invoked to grant a pardon after a criminal has completed his or her sentence. 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