News Roundup: Mob Targets Bay Area Stores in Third Consecutive Day of Smash-and-Grab Looting

BY JACK CROWE

November 22, 2021

Good morning and welcome to the News Editor's Roundup, a weekly newsletter that will ensure you're up to date on the developments in politics, business, and culture that will shape the week's news cycle — as well as those that might escape mainstream attention.

Mob Targets Bay Area Stores in Third Consecutive Day of Smash-and-Grab Looting

A mob of robbers targeted stores in Hayward and San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, marking the third consecutive day of smash-and-grab looting in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, police said they responded to multiple disturbance calls at the Southland Mall in Hayward, where a swarm of thieves reportedly ransacked a jewelry store, smashing glass counters and running off with the plunder.

A first wave of 30-40 youths arrived at the store to steal the merchandise, with a second, smaller wave arriving shortly after to finish the job, Da Lin of KPIX-TV reported.

Those robberies came after similar coordinated attacks on area retailers on Friday and Saturday.

Vehicle Smashes into Wisconsin Christmas Parade Crowd, Killing Five, Wounding Dozens

A vehicle smashed into a crowd of people attending a Christmas parade in Wisconsin early Sunday evening, killing five and wounding over 40 people.

The horrific incident happened shortly after 4:40 p.m. local time in Waukesha, Wis. Of the many people who were injured, at least a dozen were children. Emergency personnel rushed to respond to victims, escorting them into ambulances. People sought shelter in nearby shops amid the mayhem. Police quickly flooded to the scene to investigate.

The police had identified a suspect and detained the individual as of Sunday night, Police Chief Daniel Thompson said during a press briefing. He added that terror is still being considered as a potential motive for the crime.

Male Inmate Sexually Assaulted Female after Transfer to Washington Women's Prison, Former Guard Says

In the state of Washington, convicted male felons who identify as women have been transferred to the Washington Corrections Center for Women, formerly the only women-only prison in the state, and have in some cases sexually exploited the female inmates residing there.

The policy, which was effectively rubber-stamped by Washington's Democratic governor Jay Inslee, has not yet been codified into law as it has in California, but the practice is already wreaking havoc across the state's prison system, former and current employees at the Washington Corrections Center for Women tell National Review.

International Olympic Committee Says Its President Spoke with Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai

International Olympic Committee officials held a video call with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, weeks after she disappeared from public view, the IOC announced on Sunday.

In a Weibo post on November 2, Peng accused former China vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her. That post was deleted after 30 minutes, and Peng, who has competed in three Olympics, was not seen or heard from in public until Chinese state media posted video of Peng at a restaurant on Saturday.

On Sunday, the IOC announced that its president, Thomas Bach, had spoken with Peng on a video call that day. The IOC also said Emma Terho, chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission, and Li Lingwei, IOC member in China, took part in the call.

NBA Star Enes Kanter Calls on IOC to Move Winter Olympics from Beijing

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter has called to pressure the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 winter games from Beijing, to protest the disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.

"We must take a firm stance against the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. While the Women's Tennis Association has voiced concern for Ms. Peng, the International Olympic Committee has shockingly echoed Chinese state media's rhetoric about her case," Kanter wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Saturday.

"As athletes concerned about human rights and justice, we must pressure the IOC to move the games," Kanter added. "All the gold medals in the world aren't worth selling your values and your principles to the Chinese Communist Party."

Beto O'Rourke Refuses to Say whether He Wants Biden to Campaign for Him

Former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke refused to say if he wants President Biden to campaign for him in the Texas gubernatorial race, after repeated questions from CNN's Dana Bash on State of the Union on Sunday.

"A recent poll shows that 35 percent of Texans approve of [Biden's] performance. Would you like the president to come campaign with you?" Bash asked. A Texas Tribune/University of Texas poll earlier this month found that 35 percent of Texans approved of Biden's job performance while 55 percent disapproved.

O'Rourke paused, then said the gubernatorial campaign "is not going to be about Joe Biden. It's not going to be about Donald Trump. It's not going to be about anyone from outside of the state."

Mississippi, Illinois Part Ways with National School Board Association over Letter to White House

Continuing the wave of withdrawals, Mississippi and Illinois are the latest state school board groups to cancel their membership with the National School Board Association over its letter to the Biden administration requesting federal investigation of parents who protest at school-board meetings.

Most of the alienated state chapters have expressed the same grievances as their reasoning for departure. They have slammed the NSBA's decision to send the letter, prompting Attorney General Merrick Garland to deploy the FBI and federal law enforcement to investigate and potentially prosecute parents who "threaten" school administrators, as an encroachment on their local affairs.

Cotton Demands Biden 'Publicly Apologize' for Calling Kyle Rittenhouse a White Supremacist

Republican Senator Tom Cotton (Ark.) demanded President Biden "publicly apologize" to Kyle Rittenhouse for characterizing him as a "white supremacist" in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wis., last summer.

After deliberating for over 24 hours, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in the Rittenhouse trial Friday, dismissing all charges against him connected to the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of another during the August 2020 Kenosha protests.

"Joe Biden needs to publicly apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse," Cotton tweeted following the ruling.

Harris: Rittenhouse Verdict Shows 'There's a Lot More Work to Do' to Make Justice System 'More Equitable'

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday said Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal is evidence that the criminal justice system needs to be reformed to be more "equitable."

"The verdict really speaks for itself," Harris told reporters. "As many of you know, I've spent a majority of my career working to make the criminal-justice system more equitable, and clearly, there's a lot more work to do."

Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after shooting three people, killing two, during the riots in Kenosha, Wis., last August. He was arrested on August 26, 2020, and was initially indicted on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional reckless homicide, failure to comply with an emergency order from a local government, and possession of a dangerous weapon.