Politics

Lynch’s Installation as AG Overshadowed by Charleston Tragedy

Published

9 years ago

June 23, 2015

Loretta Lynch being sworn in by Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama looks on. (Freddie Allen/NNPA Photo)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – On the same day that Loretta Lynch was sworn-in as the 83rd attorney general of the United States using a Bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass, nine church members were shot to death as they studied the Bible at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the oldest A.M.E. church in the South.

The next day, Lynch announced that the Justice Department would investigate the mass murder as a hate crime. She vowed that the person who was responsible for the “unspeakable acts” would be found and would face justice.

“As we move forward, my thoughts and prayers – and those of our entire law enforcement community, here at the Department of Justice and around the country – are with the families and loved ones of the victims in Charleston,” said Lynch. “Even as we struggle to comprehend this heartbreaking event, I want everyone in Charleston – and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy – to know that we will do everything in our power to help heal this community and make it whole again.”

The confessed perpetrator, Dylann Roof, 21, was apprehended in Shelby, N.C. shortly after Lynch made her statement. Multiple news outlets reported that he admitted to planning the attack and that he almost didn’t go through with it, because the church members were so nice to him.

During Lynch’s investiture ceremony, President Barak Obama said that in a country built on the rule of law, there are few offices more important than that of Attorney General.

“The person in this position is the American people’s lawyer, tasked with enforcing our federal laws and making sure they’re applied evenly and equally,” said President Obama.

He noted that Lynch “spent years in the trenches battling terrorism, and financial fraud, and cybercrime” rising from Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York to Chief of the Long Island Office, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Lynch worked to bring several New York City police officers to justice for their roles in the brutal assault of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant in 1997, following a wrongful arrest.

“She chased public corruption. She helped secure billions in settlements from some of the world’s biggest banks accused of fraud,” said President Obama. “She jailed some of New York’s most notorious and violent mobsters and gang members. She pursued some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists and cyber criminals.”

The president joked that the timing of her installation was odd, because she hit the ground running more than a month ago, working for justice at home and abroad, after she was sworn-in at the Justice Department by Vice President Joseph Biden.

Lynch launched an investigation into the patterns and practices of the Baltimore Police Department following the tragic death of Freddie Gray while in their custody. In late May, Lynch said that nine officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the organization responsible for the regulation and promotion of soccer worldwide, would be charged with a number of crimes including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering.

“She’s already made her mark here at home and abroad because of her laser focus on the core mission of the Justice Department – the protection of the American people,” said, President Obama.

In her remarks, Lynch promised to make world of cyberspace safe, to end the scourge of modern-day slavery, and to confront the fractured relationship between American citizens’ and law enforcement.

“These are, indeed, challenging issues and challenging times. Even as our world has expanded in wonderful ways, the threats that we face have evolved in measures commensurate, and every day we seem to see an increasing disconnect between the communities we serve and the government we represent,” said Lynch. “We see all these things.”

Lynch said that even though we decided what kind of country we wanted to be 200 years ago, sometimes we forget that our greatest advances in equal rights and human rights have come after periods of heartbreaking loss and we forget that overcoming those challenges has never been easy.

“And we have not always lived up to the promises made, but we have pushed ever on,” said Lynch. “And with every challenge, we get a little bit closer.”

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.