Justice Department Agrees to Pay $100 Million to Simone Biles, Other Victims of Gymnastics Team Doctor

Now, as reported on Wednesday, the Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to the former gymnasts as a result of the FBI failing to take seriously the accusations of the star athletes.

Larry Nassar. Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, and Maggie Nichols, who were sexually abused by the then-team doctor of the U.S. women's national gymnastics team, will live the rest of their lives with the sick sexual predator's name and what he did to them seared into their memories.

USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, accused of fostering a toxic environment in which Nassar was unsupervised and gymnasts were afraid to speak out, agreed to settle claims for $380 million in 2021 with hundreds of athletes assaulted over three decades.

While the Nassar case and subsequent legal settlements were complicated, the bottom line was not. The accusations of the victims, girls at the time, were in effect ignored, not taken seriously, or at the very least not prioritized, in essence, in favor of a sick sexual predator.

Read more updates here

NYPD Shuts Down Columbia Pro-Hamas 'Encampment,' and the Hysterical Crying Has Begun

NYPD officers finally moved in to shut down a pro-Hamas "encampment" at Columbia University. The supposed protesters had been chanting offering outright support to the terrorist group while illegally occupying the area, including giving "honor" to "all the martyrs."

Columbia President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik was in Washington, DC, testifying to the House education committee, as the protesters – including students, faculty and others – gathered in upper Manhattan early Wednesday morning, setting up tents and signs.

Videos shared showed police clashing with protesters and things turning violent. Numerous arrests were made while others were suspended, including Rep. Ilhan Omar's activist daughter.

Later that afternoon, competing rallies of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups grew. Several people waving Palestinian flags had verbal confrontations with police officers, who had begun boxing the protesters in with barricades, CNN affiliate WCBS reported. In video from WCBS, pro-Palestinian protesters could be seen clashing with police and some had lit small fires. One woman could be seen being led away in handcuffs.

During Wednesday’s protests, Columbia closed the gates to campus, only allowing individuals with Columbia IDs to enter. Many of the pro-Palestinian protesters affiliated with Columbia camped on the campus overnight. Shafik wrote a letter to the NYPD on Thursday asking for the department’s help to “remove these individuals.”

“The actions of these individuals are in violation of University rules and policies,” the president wrote. “The University provided multiple notices and warnings and informed the encampment participants that they must disperse or face immediate discipline.” The president told students she authorized the NYPD to break up the encampment, according to an email obtained by CNN. Shafik wrote she authorized the move “out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia’s campus.”

Suspensions aren't enough in situations like this. Expulsion is required along with charges actually being filed, otherwise, they'll just wait out their punishment and go right back to breaking the school's rules and the law.

What Columbia University and the NYPD did was a nice start, but they have to go further or this will continue. When people blatantly and repeatedly break the law, they should be charged and prosecuted.

Read more updates here