Star Tribune
With ‘New Life Vest’ campaign, parents of Fla. school shooting victim bring awareness to gun control
Standing near a booth filled with bulletproof vests that passersby in the Twin Cities were offered to try on Friday, the parents of a teenager killed in a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. lobbied for gun reform — before such vests become a necessity.
Manuel Oliver, the father of 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver who was shot and killed along with 16 others in 2018, said the goal was to highlight his and others’ view that gun violence in the United States has gotten to the point where it is reasonable to wear a bulletproof vest while out in public.
“It’s to show that irony, and stupidity behind” wearing a bulletproof vest in public, Oliver said. “If you put this in London people will just laugh, whereas here it makes sense.”
Manuel and his wife, Patricia, set up the booths, as part of the “New Life Vest” public awareness campaign along with Minneapolis advertising agency Preston Spire. The agency came up with the idea for the campaign a year ago, and partnered with Manuel and Patricia’s nonprofit Change The Ref.
“In order to make a change, we have to keep the conversation going,” said Brett Essman, creative director for Preston Spire who was helping lead the filming of the public’s reactions. “Having people in the community see this could be our new life if we don’t take action and have some reform.”
As the couple spoke with people outside the Target store in Dinkytown, most were supportive of their message. But at least one was opposed, and argued against having more stringent gun laws.
“Why? The law-abiding citizens aren’t the ones shooting people up,” said a construction worker who was working nearby and declined to give his name to the filming crew.
The worker said he owns an AR-15 rifle he keeps locked in a safe, and that he already undergoes annual medical checks to keep his gun license, which he thinks is sufficient.
Others who spoke with the Olivers said they support having higher restrictions. Palash Bhanot and Pavit Kohli, two recent University of Minnesota graduates, said they think politicians need to better recognize the need for gun laws.
“We shouldn’t have to all carry around vests to protect ourselves; the world shouldn’t have to be like that, and they were so heavy” said Bhanot. “Ideally gun laws should be enacted to protect us.”
Minnesota ranks 31st when it comes to states with the most mass shootings per-capita, according to the per-capita mass shootings, Violence Project database, which was created by Minnesota researchers. The U.S. also saw the total number of school shootings increase each year since 2020, going from 115 shootings in 2020 to 250 in 2021 and 304 in 2022, the project’s website shows.
The Twin Cities are the only location so far used for the “New Life Vest” project, but Manuel said he would be open to trying it elsewhere to bring awareness to the issue.
“What’s frustrating is we see more and more victims, dying for the same reason that my son died, being an innocent bystander and enjoying life,” he said. “I cannot pretend everyone will agree with me, so I have to speak for my son.”
A 20-year-old St. Paul man is now facing three murder charges in separate killings in Minneapolis in recent years.
Albert Jerome Lucas was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Antonio Vernon Harper, of Minneapolis, on Nov. 6, 2023, in Minneapolis in the 3300 block of Dupont Avenue N.
Lucas, who has been jailed since May and remains held in lieu of $2 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court early Thursday afternoon. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court records for this latest charge.
According to Wednesday’s criminal complaint, which charges Lucas with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder:
Officers arrived to the scene and saw Harper on the ground suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
A witness told police that she saw three males “hugging” the side of home and looking toward Harper and two of his friends. Gunfire from Lucas erupted, hitting Harper, and the suspects fled in a car. One of Harper’s friends shared with officers that the shooting was gang-related.
Officers saw the vehicle two days later and determined it had been stolen in St. Paul. The driver fled police, but officers soon found the vehicle. DNA on a cigar wrapper inside the vehicle was tested and came back as a match for Lucas.
Star Tribune
Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza killed 15
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in northern Gaza on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who had gathered at the Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza where Israel has been waging a major air and ground operation for more than a week.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of the ministry’s emergency unit in northern Gaza, confirmed the toll and said dozens of people were wounded. He said the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was struggling to treat the casualties.
“Many women and children are in critical condition,” he said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a command center run by both militant groups inside the school. It provided a list of around a dozen names of people it identified as militants who were present when the strike was called in. It was not immediately possible to verify the names.
Israel has repeatedly struck tent camps and schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza. The Israeli military says it carries out precise strikes on militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but its strikes often kill women and children.
Hamas-led militants triggered the war when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. Some 100 captives are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.
Twin Amur tigers born at Como Zoo in August now have names — Marisa and Maks.
Two long-time volunteers who have worked with zookeepers to care for and teach the public about the zoo’s big cats came up with the names, the first to be born at the St. Paul zoo in more than 40 years.
Marisa, a name that the volunteers found to mean “spirited and tenacious,” call that a perfect reflection of her personality. The name also carries special significance for the Como Zoo community, as it honors a retired zookeeper of the same name who was instrumental in the care of large cats during her 43 years at the zoo, Como Zoo and Conservatory Director Michelle Furrer said.
The male cub has been named Maks, which is associated with meanings like “the greatest” or “strength and leadership.” The volunteers felt this was an apt description of the male cub’s confident demeanor and growing sense of leadership, Furrer said.
“Marisa and Maks aren’t just names; they’re a fun reminder of the passion and care that keep us committed to protecting wildlife every day,” Furrer said.
The newborns and their first-time mother, 7-year-old Bernadette, remain off view to allow for more bonding time, zoo officials said. The cubs’ father, 11-year-old Tsar, has been a Como resident since February 2019 and remains on view.
Fewer than 500 Amur tigers — also known as Siberian tigers — remain in the wild as they face critical threats from habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, the zoo said.
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