News Brief: Brussels attacks, Trump support scares college, Tulsa PD unethical practices

Headlines from March 21-25:

• ISIS claims responsibility for Brussels attacks (Newsweek)

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released a new propaganda video on Thursday celebrating the operations conducted by its suicide bombers at a Brussels airport and metro station on Tuesday. The suicide bomb attacks, only four months after the Paris attacks, left at least 31 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

• Chalked support for Trump on Emory’s campus leads to fear (Washington Post)

Students at Emory University found messages written in chalk all over campus Monday morning in support of presidential candidate Donald Trump. That afternoon, a group of 40 to 50 students protested the messages, stating that the affiliation with the presidential candidate was synonymous with racial discrimination and hatred. Many media outlets viewed the reaction as another sign of college students being so overly sensitive that even political campaigning could be seen as hate speech. However, Emory students said that the location of the messages – such as on steps leading into the building that houses the gathering places for Latino and black students – indicated the polarizing meaning.

• We the People Oklahoma files ethics complaint with city over Tulsa PD ‘paying for rank’ practice (Tulsa World)

We the People Oklahoma filed an ethics complaint Thursday morning with the city clerk’s office regarding personal buyouts, known as “paying for rank,” used by some Tulsa police officers. Personal buyouts involve police officers paying superiors to retire so they can move up the ranks before their promotion eligibility expires and they must retake the annual tests. The complaint cites a range of city ethics codes that We the People believes are being violated: using public positions for personal gain or holding a financial interest in performing duties in the public interest, participating in city business in which there is a related personal financial interest, disclosing a benefit not shared by the general public and exchanging gifts or favors that may be perceived as influencing.

• Thunder: Skirvin bed bugs bite and business suffers (NewsOK)

A month after Kyrie Irving – of the Cleveland Clippers – reported his bedbugs experience at the Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City, the hotel still has not bounced back as a highly frequented hotel for guest NBA teams. In the span of a month, some NBA teams have opted to stay elsewhere despite the Skirvin treating the affected room and all surrounding rooms for the pests. However, hotel management expressed in its latest press release that it is optimistic the visiting NBA teams will return to the Skirvin soon.

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