Suit: Cop stopped CPR on gay man
A small-town police chief was accused in a federal lawsuit Thursday of stopping a would-be rescuer from performing CPR on a gay heart attack victim because he assumed the ailing man had HIV and posed a health risk.
Claude Green, 43, died June 21 after being stricken yards from City Hall in Welch, a community of about 2,400.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of his mother.
Police Chief Bobby Bowman called the allegations “a boldfaced lie.” He said that he called an ambulance and that Green was taken to the hospital in “no more than nine minutes.”
The lawsuit accuses Bowman of pulling off Green’s friend Billy Snead as Snead was performing chest compressions on the man. Snead was a passenger in Green’s pickup truck when Green collapsed; Snead had managed to pull over the vehicle.
Virginia Beach, Va.
Pat Robertson loses board seat
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, criticized by some evangelicals for comments about Venezuela’s president and Israel’s prime minister, lost a bid for re-election to the National Religious Broadcasters’ board of directors.
Robertson, founder of the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, was one of 38 candidates for 33 board seats during the NRB’s recent convention. The group represents mostly evangelical radio and TV broadcasters.
NRB President Frank Wright said there was no broad effort to distance the group from Robertson. But “there was broad dismay with some of Pat’s comments and a feeling they were not helpful to Christian broadcasters in general,” he said.
In the past few months, Robertson suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for pulling out of the Gaza Strip.
Chicago
Black Panther tribute blasted
A politician’s proposal to erect a street sign in tribute to a Black Panther killed in a 1969 police raid has angered members of the police force and injected controversy into Chicago’s usually rubber-stamp way of honoring people.
Chicago has nearly 1,300 honorary street signs, most of which were approved easily by city aldermen at the request of their colleagues.
But anger recently erupted after Alderwoman Madeline Haithcock, who is black, proposed a sign honoring Fred Hampton, who was state chairman of the Black Panther Party. He was killed with another Black Panther when Chicago police raided Hampton’s apartment in search of guns.
“It’s a disgrace that someone be honored who promoted violence against police officers,” said Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
The proposal could come before the City Council later this month.
Chesapeake, Va.
Dr. Phil’s guest enters guilty plea
A man charged with bigamy after his girlfriend’s sister saw him profiled on the “Dr. Phil” television show pleaded guilty Thursday.
Charles Edward Hicks, 62, has been married seven times in 40 years. He was charged with bigamy involving his fifth and sixth wives.
He is to be sentenced May 8 and faces as many as 10 years in prison.
Hicks was profiled on “Dr. Phil” in December, when two women who had learned they both were married to Hicks went on the show. A viewer recognized Hicks as her sister’s boyfriend and called authorities.