In the week before spring break, students are beyond excited for the break from school and some much needed rest and relaxation. The trek toward the break has been terrible for students, with a boatload of tests, tears, and tired eyes. With an apartment complex that burned up, a hate crime killer, and white reporters banned from a mayoral race event, The Prowler stories.

Atlanta apartment complex up in flames (3/25)

On Monday, an Atlanta area apartment complex in Marietta, Georgia, caught on fire, destroying more than two dozen units. One building was a complete loss, but the fire was intercepted before the second building was totaled.

According to resident David Hicks, the fire started in the apartment above him, though the investigation of its cause has not yielded any results at the moment. Around 60 firefighters fought the blaze. However, more than 40 people have been displaced, but not without hope.

There were no injuries reported, because all residents safely escaped the complex. There were three dogs that were also rescued from the premises. The American Red Cross worked to help as many people and animals as possible, providing food and a temporary place to live.

New overseas funding rules on anti-abortion (3/26)

On Tuesday, the government said they will be fully implementing a law prohibiting groups from the United States of aiding abortion issues. This was due to an expansion of the administration’s anti-abortion policies.

The Trump administration will stop foreign nongovernmental organizations that give money to foreign groups that perform abortions. “We will enforce a strict prohibition on backdoor funding schemes and end-runs around our policy,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions.”

Conservatives, Catholics, and evangelical Christians have been promoting anti-abortion for a long time. Therefore, they make up a great part of Trump’s voter base that is outspoken on this issue. On the other hand, politicians who have been opposing these policies immediately criticized Pompeo’s announcement.

World War II veteran continues to fight today (3/27)

The war that brought nuclear warfare to light has been over for 74 years. Hitler has long since been killed and the Nazis defeated. However, John Sato, a World War II veteran, is all too familiar with the violence of the past and present United States. In the early 1900s Sato joined the war effort to bring the violence to an end. Now, a 95-year-old man, Sato attended a march against racism after a terror attack left 50 dead.

Headlines from the week

Au revoir!

Panther Pride announces 2019 show

Modernizing the Mill

Reid Harrison

On the night of March 15, Sato became restless thinking about the terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. “I stayed awake quite a lot at the night,” Sato told CNN. “I didn’t sleep too well ever since. I thought it was so sad. You can feel the suffering of other people.”

From that point on, determined Sato sought to attend a rally Sunday in any means possible.

As a result, Sato rode four different buses to reach the event. Because he couldn’t keep up with the pace of all the others, a few participants helped him to do his part. The fight never seems to stop for Sato. Once fighting Nazis, he is now fighting racism.

Killer pleads to hate crimes (3/28)

The man who plowed into a rally in August 2017 has been convicted of multiple hate crimes. He was tried at the Judicial Court. He drove his truck into a crowd at a “Unite the Right,” white supremacist rally. The attack killed one woman and injured 28 people.

While the group was rallying, other types of hate groups joined and began to get violent. The people brought clubs, bats, and other weapons. These attacks received little attention from police. Then, James Alex Fields, the person responsible for the attack, rammed his truck into the crowd of people. A video was taken of the attack and it soon went viral.

He pleaded to 29 accounts of hate crimes. 28 were on the account of the injured people in the crowd, and one was for the death of Heather Heyer. This conviction was made in a link to domestic terrorism. William Barr, the Attorney General, said that his new mission is to eliminate hate crimes in the United States.

White reporters banned from mayoral race event (3/29)

For the mayoral election, support was shown for the black candidates by prohibiting white reporters entry to the premises. There were signs that displayed the phrase “Black Press Only.” The purpose of this policy, regarding the meeting, was in order to grow black influence, starting with the mayor and council. By prohibiting white reporters, the black community intended to organize itself increasing the amount of power they would have.

Many influential black individuals were present, but many of them, including the own coordinator Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams, declined to comment about this turn of events. One of the African American candidates, Savannah Alderman Van Johnson, did comment on the discriminatory ban, saying that it was alright as the people assembling had the right to choose who would attend.

Most of the attendees believed that they could not comment on the ban, as they were not the ones who planned it. During the meeting, the ethnic composition of the city was discussed, and after the meeting candidate Johnson described his plan for an inclusive and progressive city during the meeting.