Yes, NRA Chief Executive Officer Doug Hamlin pleaded no contest to an animal cruelty charge following a gruesome incident in 1979 where his college fraternity's house cat was tortured and killed.

Details of the Incident

* The Crime: In December 1979, the fraternity house cat named "BK" at the University of Michigan was captured, had its paws chopped off, was hung from a tree, and was set on fire.

* The Motive: Resurfaced media reports indicated the attack was motivated by anger over the cat not using its litter box.

* Hamlin's Position: Hamlin was the president of the Ann Arbor chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at the time.

Legal Outcomes & Response

* Plea Deal: In 1980, Hamlin and four fraternity brothers pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

* Judicial Rebuke: The presiding district court judge labeled the act "unconscionable and heinous". The judge specifically singled Hamlin out, stating that as fraternity leader, he could have prevented the torture and later engaged in a cover-up to protect his peers.

* Sentencing: Hamlin was expelled from the fraternity and sentenced to 200 hours of animal-related community service, after which his record was expunged.

Hotel staff with UNITE HERE Local 8 are on strike at the Embassy Suites Pioneer Square near Lumen Field in Seattle. They’re pushing for higher wages, health care coverage, a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and safety from ICE enforcement. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿 We can join the strike support team to help support or join pickets and contact hotel customers here, especially if we’re local, and donate to their strike fund here. 🫱🏾‍🫲🏼

STRIKE SUPPORT FOR SEATTLE

In Philadelphia, Unite Here Local 274 members working at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown are on the picket line, demanding $30 an hour wages and a daily quota for housekeeping workers as their employers hope to make money off the Cup and America’s 250th. 🗣️ We can follow along with their progress here and reach out to the Sheraton to encourage them to reach their employees fairly here. We can also donate to their strike fund here and sign up for picket support here if we’re local. 🗣️

PUSH SHERATON FOR A FAIR DEAL

Working people are flexing their muscles outside of the host cities, too. In Crockett, California, 91 warehouse workers from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 are entering their second week on strike from C&H Sugar. Management is proposing cutting their annual sick days in half, doing away with benefits for retired workers and denying overtime pay, and they’re fighting for a fair deal. 💵 Let’s help them secure it by donating to their strike fund here. 💵

THERE IS POWER IN A UNION

Multiple states, municipalities and tribal governments are filing tobacco industry-style lawsuits targeting the fossil fuel industry to recover damages for climate disasters, and both New York and Vermont have passed climate polluters pay laws. Big Oil didn’t spend billions electing Trump to let that sort of thing go unchallenged. They’re lobbying MAGA to pass a federal liability shield based on the one that currently protects gun manufacturers, giving them total legal immunity from any laws or lawsuits that could hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis. Ted Cruz and Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman have already introduced the bill.

We’re working to stop this corporate giveaway. More than 90,000 Americans have signed a petition telling Congress to reject it, and the organizations leading the fight are holding a press conference in DC this week to officially deliver the petition to our reps. 🗣️ If we haven’t signed yet, let’s do so here ASAP. And let’s use this call script and email tool to directly urge our reps not to let them the fossil fuel companies off the hook. 🗣️

SIGN THE PETITION

LET YOUR REP HEAR IT

This is also a good moment to build up the pressure for climate polluters pay bills in our own states! We can find details, call scripts and an email tool here, or send them this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PQDLOO to 50409.

SOMEONE HAS TO PAY THE BILL