Three things for September 2
1. Liberty University president resigns after confusing reports
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell was to resign from his position last week after his business partner released a statement about an alleged marital affair. However, Falwell then withdrew his resignation and claimed to be on “indefinite leave” from the university.
Giancarlo Granda, Falwell’s business partner, told Reuters he engaged in a sexual relationship with the Fallwells.
As Reuters was preparing to publish the article, Jerry Falwell issued a statement to the Washington Examiner in which he confirmed that his wife had an affair with Granda. In the statement, Falwell claimed that Granda was attempting to extort money from the couple over the matter. Granda denied the accusation.
Several hours after the Reuters article was published, the Washington Post reported that Falwell had stepped down as head of Liberty University.
The New York Times reported the situation became confusing on Monday night, with a school spokesman telling news organizations that Mr. Falwell had resigned. Falwell then denied those reports, saying he had not resigned from his position.
The university has since released a statement saying that Mr. Falwell had initially agreed to resign before reversing course.
It wasn’t until last Tuesday that Falwell was officially removed as president and chancellor of Liberty University.
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2. Chattanooga woman shot outside her home
Chattanooga Police say a 66-year-old woman is recovering from a gunshot wound sustained on Monday evening.
Officials say the woman was found outside her home on Bennett Avenue just after midnight, suffering from a single gunshot wound. She was immediately transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call Chattanooga Police at 423-698-2525. For more information, click here.
3. Chattanooga police department releases data sets on racial equity
In light of several high-profile police killings and demonstrations across the country, the city of Chattanooga recently released a resource from the Chattanooga Police Department to track policing and racial injustice.
The release of information comes after many protests in Chattanooga this summer called for defunding the police department and more attention to police brutality.
ChattaData.org, the city's public data resource website, now tracks citations, arrests, use-of-force incidents and citizen complaints with the department. The website is now capable of breaking down the incidents by race to track trends of inequity.
“What happened in Kenosha is unacceptable,” Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said Friday of an incident in Wisconsin in which a 29-year-old Black man was shot multiple times by police, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
“This is so disturbing, so for us, we are still committed to making sure our relationship with the community is positive, that our officers are trained in the best possible ways and that we have policies that make sure these kinds of events don’t happen.”
During the police department’s report to the Chattanooga City Council on Tuesday, Chief David Roddy said the data has spurred conversations within the department and should solicit input from other stakeholders on how to address disparities.
“We’ve been compiling information for years, and we think that transparency is a good thing that gives more information to our community and assures that accountability is part of what we do every day,” said Berke.
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