Local NAACP Leader Says He’s Not Resigning Following Concerns Over Bribery Trial
The local NAACP president says he’s not stepping down amid calls for his resignation. Testimony and emails presented in a recent federal bribery trial showed Hezekiah Jackson through his contacts worked to convince north Birmingham residents not to have their soil tested for contamination.
Jackson has been president of the Metro NAACP over 10 years, and he says that’s not going to change.
“No, I have no intention to resign at any time,” he says.
Jackson’s name and several emails came up during a federal trial that saw a coal company executive and a powerful lawyer convicted of bribery and fraud.
Activists say Jackson helped convince residents not to get their soil tested for a proposed expansion of an Environmental Protection Agency clean up. Former state lawmaker Oliver Robinson’s foundation helped run the campaign, and he pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion.
Jackson exchanged emails with Robinson’s daughter Amanda about meeting with church and community leaders, according to court testimony.
Jackson denies any wrongdoing and says he wasn’t aware of Robinson’s conspiracy to influence the community or the connection to a local lawyer.
“The only thing I knew about was this was supposed to be some kind of introductory program with Amanda to help her way through the community,” Jackson says. “ That’s what I thought it was.”
Le’Darius Hilliard, leader of a loosely formed group called the Justice League, says Jackson is doing a disservice.
“If he played a role, as the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, going out to North Birmingham, Inglenook or to any of those SuperFund sites and told anyone not to get their soil tested, he needs to resign because that is a moral and a ethical issue,” Hilliard says.
Hilliard says activists will take their call for Jackson’s resignation to the NAACP’s national office.
Judge blocks Trump administration’s ending of protections for Venezuelans and Haitians
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary legal protections for more than 1 million people from Haiti and Venezuela who live in the United States.
Alcaraz beats Djokovic at the U.S. Open and will meet Sinner for Grand Slam final
Sinner is trying to become the first repeat men's champion in New York since Roger Federer won the tournament five years in a row. Alcaraz hasn't dropped a set as he pursues his second U.S. Open title.
Anthropic settles with authors in first-of-its-kind AI copyright infringement lawsuit
A U.S. district court is scheduled to consider whether to approve the settlement next week, in a case that marked the first substantive decision on how fair use applies to generative AI systems.
Under Trump, the Federal Trade Commission is abandoning its ban on noncompetes
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has called his agency's rule banning noncompetes unconstitutional. Still, he says protecting workers against noncompetes remains a priority.
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5B to settle lawsuit over pirated chatbot training material
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay authors $3,000 per book in a landmark settlement over pirated chatbot training material.
You can trust the jobs report, Labor Department workers urge public
A strongly-worded statement from Bureau of Labor Statistics workers comes a month after President Trump attacked the integrity of the jobs numbers they release monthly.
