Punk Tragedy, Trump Indicted, & Climate Win

Buenos dias readers, 

Isabella here. We’re halfway through August. While some are sad that the Summer is coming to an end, others are hyped about the Fall. Nevertheless, I’d like to delight our readers with a poem by Stanley Kunitz, an American poet who was the tenth Poet Laureate of the United States in autumn of 2000 and a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1959. Dedicated to the “simultaneity of life and death”, here’s his poem “End of Summer” from The Collected Poems (1953).

---

---

Apart from my Summer nostalgia, here’s what’s unfolding in national news. 

Trump and 18 others were indicted by an Atlanta grand jury Monday, and now the ex-president of the United States has 8 days remaining (voluntary surrender date: Aug. 25th at 12 PM) to surrender for arraignment. The indictment consists of 100 pages detailing the many acts Trump and allies were involved in, such as “involving one of his lawyers to access voting machines in rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company”, according to AP News. In the infamous list of “the other 18”, there are charges against Rudolph W. Giuliani (former Mayor of NYC) and Mark Meadows (former White House Chief of Staff). There are 41 counts in the Georgia indictment: 

• 22 counts related to forgery or false document and statements
• 8counts related to soliciting or impersonating public officers
• 3 counts related to influencing witnesses 
• 3 counts related to election fraud or defrauding the state
• 3counts related to computer tampering 
• 1count related to racketeering
• 1count related to perjury. 

---

---

I’m listing these out loud and – phew! For those unfamiliar, this is the 4th criminal case the former president faces. What’s next? Prosecutors must establish that the defendants were connected “in actuality,” rather than being part of an official enterprise, as outlined in Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Meanwhile, the defendants could potentially seek to transfer the case to federal court, citing the possibility of a more conservative jury selection compared to Fulton County. This action might result in a significant delay of the proceedings, spanning several months.

---

In other national news:

• Wildfires in the Hawaiian island of Maui: 96 dead, 1,000 still missing. Read this article from MPR about a Minnesota man who survived the wildfire. 
• Judge Kathy Seely ruled in favor of young climate activists in the lawsuit “Held v. State of Montana”, who asked to sue the state of Montana for enacting pro-fossil fuel policies that harm residents and wildlife. More on this win for environmental health here!

---

This is Ebe reporting from my new home office south of the MN border. 

The leaves have already started to change colors here and it’s moving from beach weather to sweater weather–and I could not be more thrilled! It’s been a while since I’ve written for you guys, but I’m excited to share more of my thoughts and goings-on in the world. If you don’t remember who I am, I’m NewPublica’s Digital Media and Communications Specialist, I love everything art-related and have a million hobbies, and I use she/they pronouns. You may remember the last edition I wrote about our review on the musical The Prom last winter.

Today I wanted to talk about something that weighed heavy on my heart when I heard about it. Last week Friday, two gunmen opened fire on a popular Minneapolis punk venue in south Minneapolis called Nudieland, killing 1 person and injuring 6 others. The victim who lost their life was 35 year old August Golden who was known in the punk rock scene to “[make] stuff happen.” The community has been mourning the loss ever since and started a fundraiser to help the victims including August’s partner, Caitlin Angelica.

---

---

Nudieland is known to many as an all-inclusive safe-haven, especially to those from the LGBTQ+ community. August’s band-mate and best friend said about August in an article by MPR News:

“August, as with everyone in this community, felt it was very important to create safe spaces for trans and gender-variant people, young and old.”

Bryan May, 2023. | MPR

Although police have not officially declared this as a hate crime, many folks in the punk community believe that this was a targeted attack against LGBTQ+ people. The band Reagan Youth shared a post on social media saying “As the story is still being developed numerous sources are stating that some local randoms (some are saying they were neo-Nazis) showed up to the house punk show and thought it was a party then when they realized it was a punk show being held at LGBTQIA+ friendly house they decided to shoot up the place and cut out.”

Many witnesses and those interviewed by various news outlets insist that the aesthetics of punk music (dark colors, leather, spikes, studs, mohawks, piercings, big boots, anti-state politics, etc.) have nothing to do with the nature of those within the community. Show promoter, Anthony Taylor Gouge told CBS News:

“You see kids, like, walking around with spikey jackets and [wearing] all black, or maybe they have a mohawk or piercings on their face, but these are people that have other people in their lives that care about them.”

Anthony Taylor Gouge, 2023 | CBS News

A couple of years ago, I fell down the rabbit hole of learning about the Astroworld Festival Crowd Crush Disaster and the events that lead up to it. In my deep-dive, I was reading a reddit thread on Travis Scott’s role in the tragic incident where several people lost their lives, accusing him of riling up the crowd and encouraging them to rush towards the stage, effectively causing what is called a “crowd crush.” Members of the punk rock community linked video examples of bands stopping shows to ensure the safety of those in the crowd, one clip showing the late lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, saying “what do we do when someone falls down?” to which the crowd chants back “pick them up!”. Evidently, the community is full of people who take care of each other, and I hold the same beliefs and outrage as those affected by the shooting at Nudieland.

---

That’s all from us, we’ll see you next time.

-Isabella and Ebe

---

Hit play on the Spotify icon below for NewMusica, a playlist by the NewPrensa team that brings you NewTaste and NewVibes.

---

Advertisements