Three things for October 18
1. Bill Clinton released from hospital
Former President Bill Clinton was released from the University of California Irvine Medical Center on Sunday. Clinton, 75 years old, had been at the medical center since Tuesday, Oct. 12, and was treated for an illness unrelated to COVID-19.
“President Clinton was discharged from UC Irvine Medical Center today. His fever and white blood cell count are normalized, and he will return home to New York to finish his course of antibiotics,” said Dr. Alpesh N. Amin, who oversaw the team of doctors in charge of Clinton’s care.
President Joe Biden spoke with Clinton about the hospital stay over the phone.
“I wanted to see how he was doing. He’s doing fine. He really is. He’s not in any serious condition,” said Biden.
Biden added he and Clinton hope to get lunch sometime in the near future.
2. Survivor of Rittenhouse shooting sues authorities
Gaige Grosskreutz, one of the three people shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August of 2020 and the only survivor of the three, filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Wisconsin on Thursday against the city of Kenosha, the county and several law enforcement officers claiming they condoned actions directly leading to the shooting.
“It was not a mistake that Kyle Rittenhouse would kill two people and maim a third on that evening. It was a natural consequence of the actions of the Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha Sheriff's office in deputizing a roving militia to ‘protect property’ and ‘assist in maintaining order,’” said the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges the police treated Rittenhouse the way they did because he is white, alleging that had Rittenhouse been an armed Black man, he would have been shot.
Rittenhouse, who pleaded not guilty, will not face trial for the shooting until November. He claims the shootings were in self-defense.
3. Colin Powell dies at 84
Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state, has died from complications from Covid-19 at age 84.
"General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, passed away this morning due to complications from Covid 19," the Powell family wrote on Facebook, noting he was fully vaccinated.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, Powell spent 35 years in the Army and rose to the rank of four-star general before becoming the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reports AP News.
President Joe Biden said Powell “embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat.”
