We have been highlighting some of the most revolting stories from the worldwide protests for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless other people of color killed by police violence and racism for the last several days. At the protests in Asheville, North Carolina, police officers destroyed a medical station set up for protestors that needed emergency attention, stabbing water bottles and tipping over a medic station without remorse.
Tables filled with food, water bottles, and medical supplies were damaged and left on the ground after police officers teamed up to stomp on and stab the gear provided to help protestors should they need it. The mayor has since responded to the troubling incident.
"I am aware of the incident involving officers destroying the medical supplies of demonstrators, including water bottles, food, and other supplies," wrote Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer. "Council has asked for an explanation of why that occurred."
The medical station was set up in an alley when the group of officers approached the team of 10 or 12 clearly-marked medics who were not provoking them.
"[The police] immediately, when they approached, they said, 'We're Asheville Police Department and you guys need to leave.' They grabbed us by the shoulders and pushed [us] out of the alleyway where we were trying to provide medical support," said Sean Miller, a student who was on the scene.
They lost approximately $700 in supplies and did not receive an explanation from the officers as to why.
Asheville Police Chief David Zack has issued a statement on the matter.
"As the Chief of Police I understand the concern has been raised over the destruction of water, food, and medical supplies," he said. "The Asheville Police Department would always prefer confiscation over destruction. We apologize for not being able to confiscate these supplies last night. Because water bottles, in particular, have been continuously used over the last three nights, officers destroyed them. Officers also searched for potentially dangerous objects, such as explosives."
Conor McGregor Personally Delivers Supplies To Local Hospital
Conor McGregor is looking to help the people of Ireland.
These past couple of months have proven to be some of the most challenging in our lifetime. The Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people while over three million people have been diagnosed with the virus, worldwide. There doesn’t appear to be any sort of end in sight and hospitals are struggling to cope with the increase in demand. Charitable contributions are needed now more than ever and numerous athletes and celebrities are doing their best to make sure everyone has what they need to make it through this crisis.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor has been taking this crisis seriously from the start and now, he is making sure hospitals get what they so desperately need. In fact, McGregor made a personal delivery to the Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin where he dropped off medical supplies such as masks.
In total, McGregor has donated over 1 million euros of medical supplies to hospitals throughout Ireland. These contributions are huge and will certainly go a long way in helping a country that has been hit hard by the virus.
McGregor’s visit to the hospital also appeared to be a morale boost for the staff who have been affected the most by this ordeal.
Brooklyn Man Arrested After Coughing On FBI Agents
A New York man has been arrested after coughing on FBI agents, claiming to have Coronavirus, and giving the FBI false statements.
Coughing on a FBI agent during a time of pandemic apparently equates to jail time.
The 43-year old Brooklyn man, Baruch Feldheim, had an incident with the FBI that took place Monday where he claimed to have the coronavirus.
FBI agents reportedly went to Feldheim’s property to discuss his alleged business of selling much-needed medical equipment such as disinfectants, surgical masks, and medical gowns to healthcare workers at extremely inflated prices. The FBI informed Feldheim about an alleged transaction that took place on March 18 where Feldheim supposedly sold 1,000 masks for $12,000 to a New Jersey doctor. The doctor, who chooses to remain unidentified, met with Feldheim at an auto repair shop in Irvington, NJ to make the transaction where he claims to have seen the suspect with a large quantity of medical supplies that could “outfit an entire hospital.”
Authorities also claim that on March 25, Feldheim received a large shipment of face masks from Canada and found an empty box of N95 masks outside of his home two days later. Continuing to investigate the suspect, authorities reported to have seen multiple “buyers” go into Feldheim’s residence and leave full-handed with boxes, which appeared to be full of medical supplies. Finally, the agents approached the man on March 29, taking the necessary precautions of keeping their distance, due to the Coronavirus.
The U.S. Attorney’s office provided a vivid description of what happened during the incident. “When the agents were within four to five feet of him, Feldheim allegedly coughed in their direction without covering his mouth. The agents then told him that they were looking for certain PPE materials and that they had information that Feldheim was in possession of large quantities of such materials. At that point, Feldheim told the FBI agents that he had the coronavirus.”
Feldheim denied having large loads of PPE and stated he never sold medical supplies to individuals. Claiming that he worked for a company that purchased and sold personal protective equipment, Feldheim was charged with assault and making false statements to law enforcement. A maximum prison sentence of five years comes with the charges.
DJ Khaled Provides Medical Supplies For Miami & New York Hospitals
DJ Khaled and his wife, Nicole Tuck, teamed up with Direct Relief to provide protective equipment to healthcare workers in New York and Miami.
DJ Khaled and his wife Nicole Tuck’s We The Best Foundation has provided tons of crucial protective equipment to healthcare workers in New York and Miami hospitals. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a major shortage in tons of critical supplies for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, and many celebrities are taking action in order to make up for the lack of these items. One such celebrity is DJ Khaled, who, through he and his wife’s We The Best Foundation, has teamed up with the non profit, Direct Relief, to provide protective equipment to those most vulnerable to the virus.
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“Helping our local community when and where we can has always been our mission since we started the We The Best Foundation back in 2018,” Khaled said in a statement. “By partnering with Direct Relief, Nicole and I are able to reach the medical staff who are most at risk in local hospitals in New York and Miami. It’s important to us to take care of those who take care of us.” Direct Relief has been rapidly mobilizing to get items such as N95 masks, surgical masks, isolation gowns, gloves, face shields, and sanitizers into the hands of as many frontline health workers as possible. The organization has even implemented daily emergency deliveries to nonprofit community clinics and health centers. In total, their combined efforts with We The Best has provided over 10,000 masks and gloves and dozens of PPE kits to healthcare workers.
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“Direct Relief is so deeply grateful for this extraordinary act of personal generosity from DJ Khaled and Nicole Tuck to help keep health workers safe as they put themselves at risk to keep all of us safe,” said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief President and CEO, in a press release. “This support translates into immediate, practical help, and is such a wonderful example of everyone pulling together and doing whatever we can to protect those who are most vulnerable.”
Khaled and We The Best have also teamed up with California-based company, simplehuman, to supply thousands of hands-free soap dispensers coated in germ-blocking nano-silver technology to communities across the U.S. This initiative begins on Wednesday (April 1st) in Los Angeles, before expanding to communities across the nation. According to the press release, Khaled and Nicole were inspired to get involved by their friend, Miami based designer Gelareh Mizrahi, whose brother has been on the front lines at a hospital in Brooklyn during the pandemic.
Trump Doubts That New York Actually Needs 30,000 Ventilators
President Donald Trump questioned whether New York State really needs 30,000 ventilators amid shortages of medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump was told by New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, that the state needed 30,000 ventilators, but Trump (literally) isn’t buying it. The U.S. president spoke to Fox News’s Sean Hannity over the phone on Thursday, where he addressed the shortages of medical supplies in New York amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump was not shy about voicing his doubts on New York’s demand for equipment. “I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” he told Hannity. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.”
“You know you go into major hospitals sometimes they’ll have two ventilators,” he continued. “Now, all of a sudden, they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’” The statement comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo had requested exactly 30,000 ventilators for New York State—which has been hit hardest by the pandemic—and subsequently blasted the government for only sending a mere fraction of that number. “You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators?” Cuomo said in a press conference, enraged. He added that tens of thousands of New Yorkers are “going to die” as a result of Trump’s neglect, unless he really steps up and provides the supplies that the state needs. Trump told Hannity, however, that purchasing a ventilator is like buying a car—a “very expensive” and “very intricate” process. “And you know they’d say, like Governor Cuomo and others, they’d say ‘We want 30,000 of them’” Trump recounted. “Thirty thousand? Think of this, you know you go to hospitals that have one in a hospital and now all of a sudden everyone’s asking for these vast numbers.”
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“Look, it’s a very bad situation,” Trump concluded. “We haven’t seen anything like it, but the end result is we gotta get back to work, and I think we can start by opening up some parts of the country.” Trump is already hoping that some Americans will be returning to work as early as Easter (April 12th), a decision that has been widely criticized as premature and irresponsible. Watch the full conversation with Trump on Fox News below:
Rihanna Donates Medical Equipment To New York State
Rihanna continues to ease the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic by donating personal protective equipment to New York State.
Rihanna is really out here saving the world. As necessary medical supplies like masks, gloves that protect individuals from becoming infected with the virus experience more and more shortages, health professionals are urging for donations of proper equipment. Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, revealed on Thursday that the multi-hyphenate mogul did just that, when he thanked Rih for donating personal protective equipment to New York State amid the coronavirus pandemic. New York has been hit the most hard by the virus out of any American state, so the donation was surely needed. "I want to thank @rihanna and the Rihanna Foundation for donating Personal Protective Equipment to New York State," Cuomo tweeted. "We're so appreciative of your help and that of so many others who have stepped up."
Rihanna has already been helping combat the pandemic in a number of ways. She gave approximately $700K worth of ventilators to her home country of Barbados, and donated an additional $5 million through her Clara Lionel Foundation to various organizations helping those most deeply impacted by coronavirus. The organizations she has supported thus far include Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, and the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Her donated funds will "support local food banks serving at-risk communities and the elderly in the U.S., testing and care in Haiti and Malawi, the distribution of medical equipment, vaccine and therapy research and development, and healthcare training." Way to go, Rih.
Lizzo Ridiculed For Wearing Surgical Mask Amid Shortages
Lizzo got dragged for wearing a surgical mask while there are major shortages of medical supplies, but she explained that she actually has strep throat.
Lizzo's decision to sport a surgical mask over her mouth during the coronavirus pandemic got her put on blast by the Internet, as health professionals report major shortages of medical supplies and equipment. Since the coronavirus outbreak, many folks are unable to access personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. Hospitals are running low on space and resources, and medical practitioners are under-equipped to properly protect their sick patients. It's for these reasons that people were vocally critical of Lizzo for wearing a surgical mask despite, as far as we know, not having coronavirus. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Lizzo responded to this criticism, noting that she "got strep throat at the worst time ever." On a photo of her infected throat, Lizzo explained her situation.
"Got strep throat at the worst time ever," she wrote. "It's nobody's business but I'd prefer y'all not criticize me for wearing a face mask and doing what I was supposed to do to protect the people in my home." In the caption, she continued the message. "Please check yourself before you become an internet bully because you're bored," she urged. "Get your facts straight. The world needs less trolls and more compassion."