Actresses gush over democracy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Actresses Kerry Washington, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Longoria brought Hollywood star power to the Democratic National Convention’s closing Thursday night.
“Today there are people out there trying to take away the rights that our mothers, our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers fought for,” Washington said, delivering her lines like a politician.
Johansson’s speech was much more personal. She talked about growing up with a lot of siblings, but not a lot of money, in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in New York.
“My girlfriends from high school to this day still depend on Planned Parenthood and often Medicaid for important health care services.” She also championed the right to vote, recalling how her mother, a registered Democrat, would take her in the voting booth.
“Is that even legal? I don’t know,” she said before going on to tell about voting for the first time herself.
“This last election, I finally got to punch those buttons for real. For me,” she said. “I was so excited, I wore my ‘I voted’ pin all day. It was my finest accessory.”
Tweeted threat still a threat
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police arrested a Charlotte man this week after he threatened — via Twitter — to assassinate President Obama during the Democratic National Convention.
Donte Jamar Sims, 21, is in federal custody, facing felony charges of threatening the president’s life, WBTV reported. Sims was arrested after tweeting, “Well Ima Assassinate president Obama this evening !… Gotta get this monkey off my chest while he’s in town.”
Sims tweeted five threats in under 15 minutes, the station reported, including, “Ima hit president Obama with that Lee Harvey Oswald swagg.”
When Secret Service agents arrived at Sims’ home, he told them he hates Obama, WBTV reported.
