Monthly Archives: August 2022

Clearing the Way for a Whiter, Wealthier Tax Base in Minneapolis – UNICORN RIOT – Unicorn Riot

Posted: August 6, 2022 at 8:20 pm

Minneapolis, MN As the Twin Cities metro area becomes more diverse, the city of Minneapolis trails behind the regions growth in diversity, with a population trending disproportionately whiter, wealthier, and, consequently more conservative in the past decade. This article demonstrates the intentionality behind this shift and the various tools at the citys disposal to turnover undesirable neighborhoods, and challenges the notion that upzoning on its face will create a more equitable city.

What has replaced the dialogue on urban problems is a public discourse that indicates active antagonism towards the poor.

Minneapolis has experienced a real estate boom since the economic crash of 2008 which was triggered when lenders gave out millions of discriminatory home loans with adjustable interest rates to mostly Black and brown families causing a massive nationwide mortgage default.

In the past decade, the city added over 20,000 new units to its housing stock, with the overwhelming majority being rental units. With increased housing supply, Minneapolis added 60,000 new residents, according to the 2020 census. In recent years, the City of Minneapolis has attempted to codify upzoning, a practice where multi-family housing stock is increased citywide, with its 2040 plan that banned the new construction of single family homes throughout the city.

Despite the massive increase in housing stock, recent data suggests that the vast majority of new residents are white and of higher income. In 2010, Minneapolis was still a homeowner majority city but today it is a majority renter city with renters making up 53% of housing occupants.

At the same time, the median household income has skyrocketed by 42%, from $46,508 in 2010 to $66,068 in 2020. That suggests that its not just a construction boom but rather a luxury apartment rental boom targeted at a higher income demographic.

A former Minneapolis police officer told Unicorn Riot that the city used the war on drugs as the pretext to remove Black and brown communities from targeted areas to help make way for the population boom.

Sarah Saarela, a former cop turned vocal critic after officers from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) murdered Jamar Clark, said Weed and Seed was a federally funded war-on-drugs-era program MPD used to police certain parts of the city. The Central neighborhood was targeted heavily by MPD in the 2000s to arrest and remove the Bloods, referring to the notorious street gang that made their homebase in Central.

George Floyd was murdered by officer Derek Chauvin on the border of the Central neighborhood. 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where Floyd was killed, is still home to the Bloods. That corner has been a prime target of MPD for decades, according to Saarela. However, it didnt start and end with the Bloods. The whole Black community was swept up in overzealous policing, as demonstrated by Floyds murder. It was all about arresting people for livability crimes, which really was just white people calling the cops on Black people for anything, Saarela said.

Livability offenses stem from post slavery vagrancy policies, also known as Black Codes, which were codified into law at the beginning of the Jim Crow era in order to criminalize Black men for petty issues in efforts to re-enslave them.

The Central neighborhood is part of Minneapolis historic Black Southside. Due to past racist housing policies such as redlining, where banks would systematically deny loans in Black communities after labeling them risky for investing, and racially restrictive housing covenants, it was one of few neighborhoods in South Minneapolis where Black families could live and put down roots.

However, in the past decade, the white population of Central has increased over sixty percent, growing from 21% of the neighborhood in 2010 to 34% today. Conversely, the Black population has halved in past decades, going from 46% of the community in 1990 to just 24% percent today. These trends are part of a bigger agenda, according to the former cop. Weed and Seed was designed to displace Black and brown people and make way for gentrification, Saarela said.

Downtown Minneapolis has some of the most expensive real estate in Minnesota. According to the Star Tribune, the increase in downtown Minneapolis residents alone accounts for more than one third of the citys population boom. Downtown increased by more than 22,000 people, growing from 34,000 residents in 2010 to 56,077 residents in 2021, largely due to its massive increase in luxury rental units.

Throughout this series, Unicorn Riot has reported on the SafeZone surveillance program in downtown Minneapolis. Target Corporation, downtowns largest employer, in partnership with the city and county, created the SafeZone in efforts to rid the citys center of undesired populations including unhoused people and transform downtown into a playground for young corporate professionals.

A former Target insider who wishes to remain unidentified recently told Unicorn Riot that former CEO Robert Ulrich is a staunch racist and constantly complained about Black men hanging outside Targets flagship downtown store. Target and local authorities created the sweeping surveillance program to deliberately target Black men with state-of-the-art surveillance cameras, livability crime arrests, and a vast network of law enforcement partners.

Target explicitly worked to suburbanize downtown. One Target executive said candidly in an interview from 2012, [T]he guest demographic we seek is very much a woman with childrenwe want to be a lot more like Disney World and a lot less like a flea market. Targets stake in downtown Minneapolis is more like that of a real estate investor than a big box retail corporation because of its massive headquarters located there, according to sociologist Dr. Michael McQuarrie.

The geographic restriction policy, which has been detailed in this series by Unicorn Riot, is a commonly activated tool used by SafeZone authorities to make downtown more livable for new, wealthier residents. A judge could geographically restrict someone from being downtown after theyve acquired a number of livability offenses and it has been determined by the judge that they refuse to follow conditions outlined by the court.

The overwhelming majority of people on the downtown geo-restriction list are Black. Geo-restrictions, which critics say resembles Jim Crow segregation, were struck down as unconstitutional by a grand jury years ago. But as previously reported, thanks to legal loopholes the practice continues today as prosecutors and judges found ways to work around it and placate corporate backers.

Dr. Edward Goetz, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs professor and director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, has written extensively about the tools the City of Minneapolis has at its disposal to remove poor people from the city, primarily the war on drugs. What has replaced the dialogue on urban problems is a public discourse, that he says, indicate[s] active antagonism towards the urban poor.

CODEFOR, which is short for Computer Optimized Deployment Focused on Results, was the citys first predictive data analytics program that tracked arrests and mapped crime hotspots in efforts to predict future crime trends, also known as predictive policing.

In his book Clearing the Way: Deconcentrating the Poor in Urban America, Dr. Goetz wrote about the controversy the program caused. Shortly after its rollout, The program became a flashpoint in the African American community, which regarded CODEFOR as simply an institutional form of harassment. The NAACPcalled the program an unchecked abuse of police power aimed at people of color, Goetz wrote. They labeled this technology racially discriminatory because of its focus on minor offenses committed by Black men in core urban neighborhoods, including downtown, while ignoring those of white men occuring in wealthier parts of town.

Saarela remembers using CODEFOR when she was on the force. At roll call the sergeant would tell us we needed to get our numbers up, Saarela told Unicorn Riot, referring to livability crime arrests. They would tell us what neighborhoods we needed to target more. Saarela said they never used any racist language but it was implied.

CODEFOR had adverse effects on real estate in targeted communities. By using data to identify crime hotspots, this drove down demand as real estate agents steered people away from communities labeled high crime. But in communities that were being gentrified, realtors used racial undertones to assure clients that the neighborhood was turning over, according to Saarela, whose parents were Twin Cities realtors for two decades.

Many activists believe that crime data in communities of color is intentionally inflated to harm those communities making them more vulnerable to real estate investors and predatory lenders. The inflation of crime data hurts communities by driving down home values thus decreasing the already struggling communitys wealth, even when those neighborhoods are not particularly unsafe.

Former Minneapolis Ward 2 City Council member Cam Gordon told Unicorn Riot that he too believes CODEFOR crime data was inflated in communities of color but cannot prove it. Even we [council members] encouraged people to call 911 over any little thing. Former officer Sarah Saarela confirmed to Unicorn Riot that MPD absolutely inflated crime data in communities of color using CODEFOR.

Gordon said CODEFOR data was public and the City of Minneapolis gave it to lenders and realtors regularly. Leading up to the Great Recession, data indicates that lenders including Wells Fargo and Countywide sold Black and brown families riskier home mortgages. With sophisticated technology, similar to CODEFOR, and numerous sources of publicly available data to identify potential customers, predatory lenders turn towards those very same neighborhoods police deem hotspots to market their products.

Big banks target communities with predatory loans where they believe the customers are financially unsophisticated or vulnerable, and therefore most likely to accept highly unfavorable loan terms, according to the federally sponsored lending corporation, Fannie Mae. In turn, this leads to increased mortgage defaults, home foreclosures, homelessness, and incarceration, thus completing the cycle of removal and achieving the desired outcomes of public and private interests.

Urban policy is less about revitalizing cities and neighborhoods, and combating the disinvestment of capital, and it is more and more about controlling the dangerous classes.

Through heavy-handed policing and predatory lending public and private interests converge, resulting in the loss of wealth, greater criminalization, continued discrimination and increased state violence against communities of color.

Although Minnesota ranks above all other states and Washington, D.C., for how well its residents are doing collectively, it ranks as the fourth most segregated state in the country. The gap between white and Black households in Minneapolis is one of the most pronounced in the U.S.

The Minneapolis metro has the lowest homeownership rate for Black people and the largest homeownership gap in the nation with a 51% gap between white and Black residents.

The median income for white households in Minneapolis is almost $74,000, while Black households earn slightly over $23,000 today, amounting to a $51,000 pay gap on average, which is the second worst in the nation following Milwaukee.

Democratic political strategist Kendal Killian, who formerly worked in city hall and currently serves as senior advisor to Congresswoman Ilhan Omars reelection campaign, recently tweeted that this conservative shift in the city is not a natural one but one that was intentional by city leaders. Our politics have shifted, and the very people we sought to attract are voting in their own self-interest. This is the city we deliberately sought to create.

In a phone interview with Unicorn Riot, Killian said that the City of Minneapolis fate is not inevitable. The way it trended whiter and more conservative in the past decade, it can also trend the opposite over this decade, if there was political will for it.

Coming out of the 2008 recession, the mayor at the time, R.T. Rybak, used loud dog whistles and talked about attracting a certain demographic of young corporate professionals to the city with promises of breweries, boutique eateries, dog parks, grocery coops and farmers markets. Importantly, critics point out that behind the mayors rhetoric were draconian policies that displaced poor residents of color.

Recent data presented in this article demonstrates that the practice of upzoning alone wont ensure population diversity or racial equity when authorities have at their disposal a number of policies to deconcentrate communities of color that they have deemed problematic.

Dr. Goetz believes such policies are little more than the authorities way to target communities they consider threatening. Urban policy is less about revitalizing cities and neighborhoods, and combating the disinvestment of capital, he wrote, and it is more and more about controlling the dangerous classes.

About the author: Marjaan Sirdar is a South Minneapolis based freelance writer and host of the People Power Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @peoplepowerpod1.

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Clearing the Way for a Whiter, Wealthier Tax Base in Minneapolis - UNICORN RIOT - Unicorn Riot

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A Polling Result Never Seen by the City’s Charter Commission Shows Portlanders Overwhelmingly Favored Placing Three Reforms on the Ballot Separately -…

Posted: at 8:20 pm

In April, the North Star Civic Foundation, a good-government think tank, received results of a poll it had commissioned a month earlier to gauge public sentiment about charter reform to change the city of Portlands form of government. Less than two months later, the 20-member Charter Commission would send its reform package to the November ballot on a 17-3 vote.

The survey asked 500 respondentswith an intentional overrepresentation of BIPOC Portlanderssuch broad questions as whether they wanted a big overhaul of City Hall or only minor tweaks; what voters top concerns were regarding government effectiveness; and whether people felt represented by City Hall.

It listed three major reforms the Charter Commission was poised to recommend: ranked-choice voting, multimember geographic districts, and a city administrator form of government.

It asked another question of respondents, one that now appears freshly relevant: Would you prefer to vote on charter reform as separate ballot questions or combined into one measure?

Charter Chart

The groups most in favor of separate proposals are young women, voters in North Portland, and lower-income voters, pollsters wrote.

The polls findings appear to fly in the face of the measure placed on the November ballot by the Charter Commission, which voted overwhelmingly to bundle all three reforms into a single ballot question. Charter commissioners have said the reforms they proposeda city administrator, ranked-choice voting, and multimember districtsare too interdependent to separate.

The Portland Business Alliance has challenged the single-question measure in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Oral arguments are scheduled for Aug. 11.

The PBA was among the funders of the North Star poll, along with Oregon Smart Growth, the Metropolitan Association of Realtors, and the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. That was back when the citys chamber of commerce and its leading business interests were eager to see charter reformbut in a much different form than its now taken.

What now appears peculiar is why the complete poll results werent presented to charter commissioners in April.

On June 15, Charter Commission project manager Julia Meier sent an email to all Portland City Council chiefs of staff. It linked to three public opinion polls that Meier said were presented to the commission.

The Lake Research poll commissioned by North Star was one of the three listed. But it was a truncated version. That 72% of respondents said they wanted separate ballot questions did not appear in the version sent to City Council offices.

This week, WW obtained the full survey that included that particular questionwhich was never presented to charter commissioners and never provided to the public.

Caitlin Baggott Davis, executive director of North Star, says the omission was not intentional, but rather her group wanted to focus on the core takeaways from the poll so it could message appropriately when promoting charter reform: Our focus in the March poll was to understand if voters feel represented by Portland city government, and if they feel that services are being provided well. They dont. We focused the presentation on that.

Its also important to contextualize the period in which the poll was taken: It was before anyone knew that the issue of separate questions versus a combined question would so badly splinter interest groups on charter reform.

Four charter commissioners tell WW they never saw the poll, nor the shorter version.

Commissioner Robin Ye says seeing this question doesnt change anything for him: Theres an overwhelming sense of support for big structural change, and the policy proposal from the commission is best and only can be presented in a single package, because thats how the reform policy works together, in tandem.

(Sofia lvarez-Castro, communications coordinator for the Charter Commission, says the truncated version was publicly available but not formally presented to charter commissioners.)

The full Lake Research poll raises a number of questions. Perhaps the biggest one is about transparency: Why was an important question in a public opinion poll not shared with charter commissioners?

Meanwhile, results of another poll presented to charter commissioners in April asked a similar question.

Commissioned by Building Power for Communities of Color, which now leads the campaign to promote the reform measure, and Represent.Us, a nonprofit that advocates ranked-choice voting, the poll asked respondents which of two statements they agreed with more: Portland government is such a mess that we need to pass this whole package of reforms or We should only focus on changing Portlands form of government. Fifty-seven percent of respondents chose the former statement, and 31% chose the latter.

A slide from a March GBAO poll about charter reform. (GBAO Strategies)

(Another poll by FM3 Research, commissioned and funded by North Star and BPCC and presented to charter commissioners in March, asked about combining two of the three proposals. In that poll, adding more than one reform to the ballot question did not hurt, or help, the favorability of either reform.)

North Star, which commissioned the poll that showed voters had doubts, is now joining the campaign to pass the full charter reform package.

The campaign tells WW its raised $200,000 so far.

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A Polling Result Never Seen by the City's Charter Commission Shows Portlanders Overwhelmingly Favored Placing Three Reforms on the Ballot Separately -...

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This Miami-Dade school board member was a teen father. That shaped his views on sex ed – WLRN

Posted: at 8:20 pm

Teen pregnancy can upend a students life and educational career and can set families back for generations. For Miami-Dade County School Board Member Steve Gallon, the issue is a personal one: his first child Kastevia Gallon-Martin was born when he was just 16 years old.

He talked about his experience as a teenage father at a recent school board meeting during a debate over whether the district should adopt two comprehensive health textbooks and teach sex education in the fall.

I look at it based on my journey that started in 1985, as a product of this or lack thereof. A former teenage father while a student at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Gallon said. So it is personal for me.

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Miami-Dade County Public Schools will be offering sex ed in the fall after the school board reversed its previous vote to throw out the two textbooks. The decision to reject the books, and effectively opt out the entire district from receiving sex education, drew public outcry and national attention.

WLRN education reporter Kate Payne spoke with Gallon about his experience as a teen dad raising his daughter Kastevia, and the importance of sex ed for him and for students in the district.

The following is an excerpt of their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Courtesy of Steve Gallon

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Courtesy of Steve Gallon

GALLON: At that particular time I was 16 years old. The mother was 16 years old. We were high school students and we found ourselves in that situation. Fortunately, we had resources. We had information on how to navigate our way through that particular challenging time.

All fathers are not as responsible as I was at a very young age, because I really accepted that obligation and fulfilled it with fidelity and integrity. But let's face it: life would have been different had I not had to have that additional responsibility. Tremendously blessed with my children. Would not have had it any other way. It was part of God's plan. But obviously, it was not intentional.

I've been tremendously blessed, graduating from high school, attending college, earning a master's and a doctoral degree. But I know that I'm the exception, not the rule. And obviously many of our young people are shackled. Teenage parenthood can become an albatross for the rest of their lives.

Once you drop out of school, you're compounding many of the challenges in life. And information is power. And what we cannot do in any educational scenario is deny children an opportunity to be powerful in their decision making.

WLRN: What was that time like in your life? How did you experience that in the moment, as far as trying to stay on the path of education and graduating high school?

GALLON: Very difficult. But again, I had tremendous support that did not simply come from my home. Educators, counselors, administrators, members in the community, wrapped their arms around me, gave me some guidance, gave me some support.

But again, never would say it was easy. We have legions of young people that fall to the wayside educationally because of decisions they make at a very young age. Find themselves terminally on the margins of our society. And that's something that education should try to mitigate as much as possible.

WLRN: Youre a product of Miami-Dade public schools. What did you learn in middle school and high school about sex? Could that have put you on a different trajectory if you had more information during that critical time in your life?

GALLON: Yeah, absolutely. It could have. I graduated from Miami Northwestern Senior High School. My parents once again did not have the talk. But it's not that I was not able to have access to the information. Could it have been amplified a little more?

But at the end of the day, it comes down to individual decisions that we all make. I think our children and our youth need to be equipped with as much information to make the best decisions possible.

WLRN: For teen mothers, only half of them will go on to graduate high school. Their children are more likely to struggle in school, to drop out and to be incarcerated. What more can the district do to support teen parents?

GALLON: I think the district has been a leader. In my last position in this district, I was [in charge of] alternative education. I was over the schools that served young mothers and teenage parents.

I want to say mothers and teenage parents, because fathers, they can get the resources, they can access additional information and guidance. Our district does provide these particular programs.

Can we do more? Absolutely. And as you indicated through those particular data points, those issues show up not simply in our schools. They show up in our communities, they show up throughout the state, and quite frankly, they show up in underserved, underperforming and under-resourced communities. It often leads, specifically for young African American or Hispanic males, to a pathway toward prison, poverty or an early death.

And we have an obligation, we have a responsibility both professionally and morally to make sure that we equip students with the lifelong skills that they're going to need. And some people believe that that's not our role, that's not our responsibility. But our parents, our families many of them are depending on us.

WLRN Senior Editor For News Jessica Bakeman contributed to this story.

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This Miami-Dade school board member was a teen father. That shaped his views on sex ed - WLRN

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Ancient DNA reveals phenological diversity of Coast Salish herring harvests over multiple centuries | Scientific Reports – Nature.com

Posted: at 8:19 pm

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Ancient DNA reveals phenological diversity of Coast Salish herring harvests over multiple centuries | Scientific Reports - Nature.com

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JonBenet Ramsey Murder: Police Urged to Retest DNA Due to Breakthrough in Investigation – FanFest News

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Its not likely, but it seems like there may have been a breakthrough in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. According to Fox News, there is a growing push to test DNA from the murder of Ramsey. This could finally close the cold case.

According to Fox News, JonBenet Ramseys brother is asking Colorados governor to open up the DNA evidence from the case to a new agency for further testing. Parabon NanoLabs is known for using advanced technology to research cold cases and old cases that didnt have the luxury of DNA testing.

CeCe Moore, the chief genetic genealogist at Parabon, recently sat down for an interview with Australias 60 Minutes. In the interview, she revealed that Parabons methods could identify DNA from a crime scene within a few hours.

There are people all over the world that want her killer brought to justice, who want to know what happened and who want the answers, Moore said. Parabon also recently made headlines by helping to solve a cold murder case in Pennsylvania back in July. Prosecutors confirmed that DNA helped bring charges against David Sinopoli in connection to the 1975 murder of Lindy Sue Beichler.

This arrest would not have been possible without the assistance of CeCe Moore and Parabon NanoLabs, Lancaster DA Heather Adams said in the aftermath. We are incredibly grateful for the work that they do and their commitment to securing justice for victims and their loved ones.

Cindy Smit-Marra, the daughter of late detective Lou Smit, and investigator John Anderson are pushing for Boulder police to look into the DNA testing again.

We request that the lab that did the testing on the long johns use their current technology to potentially identify more markers and/or separate any comingled DNA, the pair said. This would simply take a phone call from the Boulder Police Department.

Smit-Marras father left behind a lot of clues that could help solve the case, even though the suspect was never found.

All this said, Boulder police maintains they are still testing and looking into the case. The Boulder Police Department regularly meets with multiple entities regarding this investigation, to include private labs, the FBI, CBI, the District Attorneys Office and others, the department wrote on social media in response to criticism.

In this ever- and quick-changing field of DNA analysis and testing, we are constantly speaking with these investigative stakeholders to evaluate how best to proceed given legal and scientific rules and limiations. Due to the length of time since this crime first occurred, Boulder police must be extremely cautious with handling of evidence and analysis.

John Andrew Ramsey noticed the police officers comments and celebrated them for breaking their silence. However, he quickly pointed out the issues with their details.So here is the issuethey talk a big game but every feeler I got out there tells me otherwise. Not to mention a terrible track record, Ramsey wrote. Do you give them the benefit of the doubt?

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US lawmakers warn 23andMe could lead to bioweapons that kill people based on their DNA – Screen Shot

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Back in 2019, a US Navy officer warned against the use of at-home ancestry test kits. Be careful who you send your DNA to, said Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, during a speech on nuclear deterrence in Washington, DC. Theres a number of those companies where you can go and find out what your makeup is. Thats a lot of information. You learn a lot about yourself and so does the company [that]s doing it.

According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the time, more than 26 million people had taken at-home ancestry tests. Based on the rate at which the public was purchasing the kits, this number was predicted to jump to at least 100 million by 2021.

Fast forward to 2022, a US House Intelligence Committee member has now reiterated these warnings by highlighting how information collected by DNA-testing companies like MyHeritage, Ancestry.com and 23andMe could be used to develop bioweapons targeting specific groups of Americans or even individuals.

Representative Jason Crow made the comments during an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, saying many Americans are far too willing to give up their DNA information to private companies.

You can actually take someones DNA, you know, their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or make them inoperable, Crow said, as noted by Axios. You cant have a discussion about this without talking about privacy in commercial data and the protection of commercial data, because expectations of privacy have degraded over the last 20 years. The lawmaker also added how younger generations have very little expectation of privacy, as per polling data.

People will very rapidly spit into a cup and send it to 23andMe and get really interesting data about their backgroundand guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company, he continued. It can be sold off with very little intellectual property protection or privacy protection, and we dont have legal and regulatory regimes that deal with that. That data is actually going to be procured and collected by our adversaries for the development of these systems.

In July 2022, the Washington Examiner reported how privately-owned databases could be easily leveraged to create bioweapons like the ones touted by Crow. The publication explained that DNA belonging to a target, or even a close relative of a target, could be stolen and used to develop a biological weapon effective only against that person. The technology hence harbours the unsettling potential to initiate highly-targeted assassination programmes while also making it harder for killers to be tracked downsimilar to the horrific case of genetic paparazzi who are predicted to start stealing genetic material of public figures for reproductory and other nefarious purposes.

According to Senator Joni Ernst, such scientific advancements can be equally dangerous if they are designed to target only a certain breed of farm animal or crop rather than humans. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, African swine feverall of these things have circulated around the globe, but if targeted by an adversary, we know that it brings about food insecurity, she said at the Aspen Security Forum. Food insecurity drives a lot of other insecurities around the globe.

The lawmaker continued by stating how theres a need to make sure were not only securing human beings from the genetic threat but also the organic supplies that will sustain us. Ernst also believes food will be increasingly weaponised in the future as she pointed out how Russia has already armed the same in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Although 23andMe has repeatedly stated that it does not sell the private information of its customers, the Daily Mail noted how other DNA companies have previously provided databases to law enforcement upon request. Meanwhile, several startups have also cropped up on the genomic horizonincluding dating app digiD8 which allows users to match with potential love interests based on information about their genes.

Heck, 23andMe has itself offered users the chance to go from a curious trip down ancestry lane online to a literal trip down ancestry lane by partnering and sharing data with Airbnbultimately using DNA to capitalise on heritage travel. Taking all of this into consideration, the concept of bioterrorism by leveraging online DNA databases doesnt seem so far-fetched anymore in 2022.

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U.S. has no DNA on Zawahiri, confirmed death by other sources – White House – Reuters.com

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Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a CIA drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend according to U.S. officials, appears in an undated FBI Most Wanted poster. FBI/Handout via REUTERS

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WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The United States has no DNA confirmation of the death of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul, a White House spokesman on Tuesday, but verified his identity through other sources.

"We do not have DNA confirmation. We're not going to get that confirmation. Quite frankly, based on based on multiple sources and methods that we've gathered information from, we don't need it," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with CNN.

"We have visual confirmation, but we also have confirmation through other sources."

Kirby also said there was a small al Qaeda presence remaining in Afghanistan.

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Reporting by Doina Chiacu;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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U.S. has no DNA on Zawahiri, confirmed death by other sources - White House - Reuters.com

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Bombay HC: DNA test cannot be said to be conclusive evidence in rape case – The Hindu

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The Bombay High Court recently rejected the bail plea of father of two kids for raping and impregnating a minor house help and said, "DNA test cannot be said to be conclusive evidence regarding a rape, but it can only be used as corroborative evidence."

A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a bail application by Abbas Ali who was arrested on September 11, 2020. He has been charged with rape, punishment for criminal intimidation and punishment for penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act .

Ali had approached a labourer living in the slums her 14-year-old daughter, asking for assistance for his wife and their two children. The minor girl started soon started work at Alis house, everyday from morning till 8.00 p.m. in the night.

However, soon thereafter she complained of stomach pain and disclosed that Ali was committing forcible sexual intercourse with her for 10 days when his wife had been out of town. In her statement to the police, the victim said he used to pay her 200 everyday and promised to marry her if she did not disclose anything.

After lockdown when the victime got pregnant, Ali's wife learnt about it and took her to the hospital for an abortion, but it could not take place, as she was already seven months pregnant.

The court recorded, "The DNA analysis excludes Ali as the father of the child, but that does not discredit the statement of the girl who has repeatedly said that Ali had forcible sexual intercourse with her which resulted in the pregnancy. There is no reason to disbelieve her testimony. The DNA test cannot be said to be conclusive evidence regarding a rape, but it can only be used as corroborative evidence."

The bench rejected Ali's bail and said, "considering the precarious situation of the victim's family there is every likelihood of them being pressurised."

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It could be years before NOPD can test DNA evidence in its own new crime lab – FOX 8 Local First

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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -- A gleaming new five-story building appears finished at the corner of South White and Gravier Streets, sitting between the New Orleans Police Department headquarters and the Orleans Parish District Attorneys office.

It was supposed to be opened years ago. Its far behind schedule, said Skip Gallagher, a New Orleans resident and independent NOPD watchdog.

The NOPDs new $25 million crime lab remains unopened. Its a facility that could be extremely valuable in solving some of the citys most violent crimes.

It really disturbs me, because if youre trying to catch serial criminals, you dont have the evidence to show that they are connected to other events or other crimes, Gallagher said.

Gallagher knows the impact DNA can have on cases. Hes a chemist, and taught forensic science for more than 10 years.

Absolutely, I think its a crisis, he said.

According to the NOPD, right now most DNA exhibits are stored -- untested -- in a Central Evidence and Processing warehouse. The NOPD says about 73,000 samples are waiting in there.

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Zurik: Over 70,000 DNA samples sit untested in NOPD evidence collection

The NOPD has lacked the capacity to test DNA samples in-house since before Hurricane Katrina. Instead, DNA samples are sent to the Louisiana State Police lab in Baton Rouge, but theres a statewide backlog waiting there.

Right now, were sitting in line with everyone else in the state lab that can run the samples that they have now, Gallagher.

Back in May, the NOPD had 670 DNA samples waiting to be processed. The new crime lab could be critical in easing that backlog, but the department is far from ready.

The NOPD told Fox 8 it has been moving in equipment and hiring people. It hopes to open the new lab for at least ballistics, fingerprint and other testing before the end of the year. But until it is a nationally accredited DNA lab, it will not be able to provide genetic evidence that could be crucial to making successful arrests and prosecutions.

So, while at some point in the near future, we may have the bright, shiny new building, we dont have the equipment or the people to put in that building, Gallagher said.

DNA analysts will have to be hired, trained and certified, and that will take time and money. New Orleans City Councilwoman Lesli Harris authored an ordinance back in March requiring that to happen.

The first step is hiring a director of the crime lab, and that has not happened yet, Harris said in a statement Tuesday. Only once that director and a trained deputy (superintendent) are in place can the NOPD move toward securing equipment, bringing in staff and moving swiftly toward accreditation.

It appears it could take years before the NOPD will be able to test DNA samples in its own crime lab.

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Discovering your African roots through DNA testing is tracing roots back hundreds of years – WXYZ 7 Action News Detroit

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DETROIT (WXYZ)Black adults in the United States are more likely than any other group to see race as central to their identity. For many of those Americans, descended from enslaved Africans, the roots of their identity through ancestry remains a mystery.

When enslaved people were captured from the continent and brought to the Americas, they lost their names, they lost their languages, they lost the freedom to honor their ancestors, said Gina Paige, President and Co-founder of AfricanAncestry.com.

Today those ancestors descendants are on a quest to reclaim what was taken all those years ago.

I can only go so far back in my family as far as my great grandparents on one side and grandparents on the other side, and that was not enough for me, said Evan Chaney, researching his family history.

Unlike his grandparents, Evan could use DNA to pick up, where the paper trail had ended- a test through Africanancestry.com that could trace his roots back hundreds of years to a specific country and ethnic group.

I learned that on my mother's side I'm the Tikar, Hausa Fulani out of Cameroon, said Chaney.

WXYZs Ameera David asked, What was your reaction when you saw that?"

You feel a sense of home, and sense of belonging, said Chaney.

Black Americans across the country jumping on the ancestry wagon -the uptick reflected in the numbers - African ancestry noted a 35 percent boost in test takers between 2019 and 2021.

Whats your sense as to why were seeing more people interested in connecting with their roots and learning more about their origin? asked David.

Thats like the missing link in our heritage and it directly impacts our identity, said Kefentse Chike, Wayne State University Assistant Professor of African American studies.

Professor Kefentse Chike says the desire has always been there but does believe upward trends are tied to current events.

Of course, the killings of African American men and I think this kind of came to a height or a pinnacle with the death of George Floyd, said Chike.

A boost in popularity is thought to be a response to the perceived systemic oppression of Black Americans today that began when their ancestors were first brought into the country.

We weren't supposed to know where we were from, we were supposed to leave and never come back so this is an act of resistance, said Paige.

Today, knowledge is evolving into action. The pursuit to uncover lost lineage pushes diasporas to return.

We just came back. We remembered where we were from.

That includes Chaney, who for the first time this year, traveled to West Africa- to Ghana, an experience so transformative, he now has plans in motion to move there permanently.

The atmosphere was beautiful, culture was beautiful- people are beautiful. Heard my ancestors Its time for you to come home, you need to come home, said Chaney.

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