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President Trump's trying to keep voters' eyes off the prize of racial equality -- at least that's how NAACP leader Bishop Talbert Swan is viewing Trump's latest defunding threat.

The President of the NAACP's Springfield, Massachusetts chapter, joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and ripped POTUS for threatening to pull federal funds from Seattle, Portland and NYC ... cities he's now labeled "anarchist jurisdictions."

Swan pointed out the term "anarchist jurisdiction" has never existed in America, and believes the Trump administration made it up to rationalize his threat to cut federal funding to those cities. That threat is already facing legal challenges, but the Bishop told us it's also creating a distraction ahead of the election -- and he thinks that's exactly what the President wants.

He's imploring Americans to not lose sight of the mounting issues that truly matter -- racial inequality, coronavirus, the economy and the possibility of a Supreme Court he believes will "attack every Civil Rights gain made in the last 100 years."

It's National Voter Registration Day, and celebs are reminding folks to get out there and exercise their rights.

The civic nonpartisan holiday -- celebrated the fourth Tuesday in September -- is all about registering and mobilizing voters, while educating and unifying the country.

Some celebs -- like Chelsea Handler, Michelle Obama and Big Sean -- have been doing their part to get word out about registering. Surprisingly, 60% of eligible voters are never even asked to register.

The FBI's not done building its case against Jerry Harris -- federal agents in Chicago are asking for any individuals under the age of 18 who may have been victimized by the disgraced "Cheer" star to come forward.

The feds have launched a "Seeking Victim Information" webpage related to the investigation of Harris, who was arrested last week and is facing a federal child pornography charge for allegedly enticing 2 underage teen boys to send him sexually explicit images of themselves.

The FBI says it's seeking the public’s help in identifying any additional minors who may have been contacted by Harris and asked to produce or view graphic images or engage in sexual contact.

Victims may have communicated with Harris via Snapchat or Instagram ... according to the feds.

As we reported ... the feds claim Harris admitted to many of the allegations against him, including soliciting and receiving child pornography on Snapchat from at least 10 to 15 other individuals he knew were minors.

Folks are coming up with super creative ways to have a safe and socially distanced Halloween ... like this zipline ghost that's giving out candy, and beers!!!

Ya gotta see this contraption and how it all works ... there's a homemade ghost on a hangar, attached to a zipline and powered by a little bit of gravity and some fishing equipment, and it ferries candy from the front porch to the sidewalk.

No doorbells, no knocks, and no close-quarters contact needed!

Matt Thompson at Thompson Woodworks in Garden City, MI is the man who made it all happen ... and we gotta say, his contraption is pretty ingenious.

It looks like a fun way to get those cute trick-or-treaters some candy, and special props to Matt for hooking up parents up with some light beers -- great use of the DIY Halloween tech!

Add in the rod and reel to bring the ghost back to base for a refill, and you get this reel-y good idea.

Tommy DeVito -- one of the original members of the iconic Doo-Wop group, The Four Seasons -- has died from coronavirus.

'Casino' actor Alfredo Nittoli confirmed the news Tuesday in a Facebook post, saying Tommy had died Monday night at a Vegas area hospital, where he'd recently been admitted after contracting COVID-19.

Nittoli says Tommy's daughter, Darcel, informed him of Tommy's passing, and went on to say that there'd be a service held soon in his native New Jersey.

DeVito was one of the founding members of The Four Seasons, along with Frankie Valli, his brother, Nick, and Hank Majewski. Before the Seasons, they were originally known as the Variety Trio, but evolved to The Variatones after adding Frankie, and later went as the Four Lovers before eventually settling on the Four Seasons. Obviously, the last one stuck.

The group had a lot of misfires in their early days -- but after some members fell off and others were added (with Frankie and Tommy remaining as part of the core) the Four Seasons finally found success with their single, "Sherry," and later ... "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Dawn," "Walk Like a Man" and many others.

The Four Seasons went on to churn out hit after hit throughout the '60s, and were going to toe-to-toe with the Beach Boys as far as chart-topping songs at the time in their respective genres. Tommy stayed with the group until 1970.

Of course, the Four Seasons and their story went on to be cemented in pop culture history with the 'Jersey Boys' play, and afterward ... a film of the same name. He, along with other members of TFS over time, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Tommy was 92.

Vanessa Bryant is suing the L.A. County Sheriff and his department, claiming they caused her severe emotional distress ... when deputies allegedly took personal cellphone photos of the bodies of Kobe and Gigi Bryant at the scene of the helicopter crash that took their lives.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, "no fewer than 8 sheriff's deputies at the crash site, pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification."

The lawsuit goes onto allege the photos were the subject of conversation within the sheriff's dept ... with deputies showing their colleagues the pictures that had no investigative purpose.

The lawsuit notes how the photos were exposed ... when a deputy was at a bar and showed the photos to a woman he was trying to impress. The bartender heard the conversation, blew the whistle and called the sheriff's department.

Vanessa says in the suit ... that's when Sheriff Villanueva tried to cover it all up by going to the Sheriff's substation that responded to the crash and telling deputies if they deleted the photos they would not face discipline. The suit claims the purpose of his talk was destruction of evidence.  The lawsuit claims Villanueva did not tell the families about the photos and they only learned of it in the media when the story broke that deputies took the photos.

The lawsuit claims the Sheriff never gave the family straight answers and now Vanessa is in constant fear the photos will leak ... "Ms. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online."

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages.

We reached out to the Sheriff's Dept. ... so far, no word back.

Cardi B and her sister are getting sued after labeling a group of beachgoers as "racist MAGA supporters" ... this according to a lawsuit.

Peter Caliendo, Pauline Caliendo and Manuel Alarcon are suing the rapper, her sister, Hennessy Carolina, and Hennessy's GF, Michelle Diaz, claiming they defamed them by labeling them as racist during a squabble at the Hamptons earlier this month.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the plaintiffs claim they were enjoying their time at Smith Point beach with their families when Hennessy approached them with rage ... spitting, insulting and threatening them just because one of them was wearing a MAGA hat.

At the time, Cardi tweeted a video of the altercation ... saying her sister was getting harassed because she and her friend are an Afro-Hispanic gay couple.

The group also claims Cardi B, Hennessy and Michelle edited the video and posted it on social media to falsely paint them as racists. Cardi had posted a video later that day with audio apparently showing Hennessy explaining that someone in the group told her to go back to her country.

Hennessy's side of the story was they were targeted because they "saw us parking here and we were speaking Spanish and we're mixed."

R. Kelly's renewed plea to get sprung from jail is getting push back from Uncle Sam, who says his most recent concern -- getting attacked behind bars -- has been neutralized.

Federal prosecutors just filed a reply to R. Kelly's latest request to be released on bail after he was ambushed and beaten by a fellow Chicago MCC inmate ... a guy Kelly says could've cost him his life. The government's response? Relax, it was a one-and-done.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the attack on R. Kelly was a one-time, isolated event -- and that it can't happen again, at least not with the same guy ... because he's been moved to a new facility in Michigan.

So, in their eyes, the threat has left the building.

The feds also dispute R. Kelly's claim the attacker allegedly told a doctor on site that he needed to attack the singer for attention on his own case -- claiming the doctor denied that convo ever happened. That said, they also point out that if R. Kelly's still sour about his injuries ... he can take it up in civil court.

A SUPER RARE Colin Kaepernick football card just sold for over $20k at auction ... and at least $5 grand is being donated to the quarterback's charity!

As we previously reported ... the 2011 Topps Platinum Rookie Patch Autograph Red Refractor card featured a patch from Kap's rookie season jersey and his autograph.

The 1-of-1 card was put up on the block at Goldin Auctions ... and ended up selling for $20,400!!

Pretty awesome ... considering the card was originally part of a regular pack of cards. The anonymous seller picked up the card for less than $1,800 on eBay, before consigning it to GA.

Instead of keeping all the cash, the seller decided to donate a chunk of his profits to the Know Your Rights Camp -- Colin's charity.

BTW, the Kap memorabilia doesn't stop with the card -- the consignor is now selling a pair of game-worn, autographed Kaepernick gloves ... and you guessed it, KYRC is gonna get another check!

An autistic teen was shot by police in Utah, leaving him seriously injured ... and cops are now releasing the body cam footage of the incident.

13-year-old Linden Cameron's mother called the cops earlier this month, saying he was having a breakdown -- brought on by Asperger's syndrome -- and she needed assistance managing the situation.

On the body cam, you see one cop confront Linden on a dark sidewalk as he tells him to get on the ground. The kid doesn't obey the orders at first, and officers eventually open fire.

Eleven shots are heard on video -- it's unclear how many struck Linden, but he immediately went down and writhed in pain. He also seems to say "I don't feel good" and "Tell my mom I love her." Somehow, he survived the ordeal and was hospitalized.

Linden's mother had reportedly told cops he was easily triggered by law enforcement and that he may have had a BB gun, but she didn't think it was real. Cops allegedly told her they'd have to treat it like it was real.

Nelly's found the ultimate way to appease the judges on "Dancing with the Stars" who told him to ditch his sneakers for dancing shoes -- instead, he has the best of both worlds.

Despite wowing the crowd with his "Ride Wit Me" salsa dance on last week's show -- culminating with a backflip -- the rapper took some heat for wearing Jordans instead of traditional dance shoes.

Nelly insists the judges are just hating on hip-hop with their criticism, but instead of pushing back ... he got creative.

Check it out -- Nelly, aka Yung Swivel, might just have the dopest dancing shoes of all time on 'DWTS.' They look like Air Jordans on the upper with traditional ballroom dancing soles -- or as Nelly put it on IG ... "HIPHOP 4DA WIN!!!"

If you haven't been watching, Nelly's become an early fan favorite on season 29 of the reality dance competition ... because he looks like he's having the most fun.

The first elimination goes down Tuesday night, and though Carole Baskin received the lowest score during the premiere, she's not expected to go home.

Larissa Lima's recent run-in with ICE was far from a publicity stunt -- it may result in her removal from the country ... and we've seen the evidence.

According to the Homeland Security docs obtained by TMZ ... the "90 Day Fiance" star was arrested Saturday and released on her own recognizance.

The docs say Larissa's been "placed in removal proceedings" in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, and she has a hearing coming up to determine if she'll have to surrender for removal from the U.S.

As we reported ... Larissa was arrested at her boyfriend's home in Las Vegas as they were getting ready to head to Colorado. Sources close to her previously claimed agents were simply checking on her immigration status, and she later posted that everything was "good to go" after her release.

According to what we've seen ... that definitely doesn't seem to be the case. We reached out to ICE, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the case.

It's funny -- after Larissa was arrested, fans began to speculate she staged the whole ordeal as a publicity stunt. Turns out they were very wrong, but it would have been impressive ... almost as impressive as the success of her CamSoda show and making herself look like Kylie Jenner

Kodak Black's life has been a living hell at a federal prison in Kentucky due to beatings at the hands of guards, mental abuse and religious suppression ... so claims the rapper in a new suit.

Kodak's going after the Federal Bureau of prisons along with its director and the warden of the Big Sandy maximum security prison, claiming he's been tortured and had his rights violated ever since he was transferred there in October 2019.

According to the docs ... the rapper's transfer was a result of an altercation with another inmate while he was incarcerated at a Miami prison, in which an officer was injured.

Kodak claims Big Sandy guards put a "gang beating" on him shortly after he arrived, allegedly as retaliation for the injured Miami prison guard. He claims the guards "flicked" his testicles during the beatdown.

Since then, the rapper claims he's routinely punished and mistreated for no legitimate law enforcement reason, including being placed by guards in a backless paper gown on a 4-point restraint for more than 6 hours ... with no access to a bathroom.

According to the docs ... this has forced Kodak to urinate and defecate on himself while the guards make jokes. He claims medical records show that this treatment also resulted in his mouth bleeding, lacerations and vomiting.

There's more -- the Big Sandy prison guards are accused of placing Kodak on his knees execution-style in just his underwear while soaking wet, which he claims has caused him physical harm along with emotional distress and humiliation.

Finally, Kodak's legal team of attorneys Bradford Cohen, Robert Buschel and Jonathan Schwartz are following up on their threat to sue because the rapper is also allegedly being denied access to a rabbi.

According to the lawsuit, Kodak is a practicing Hebrew Israelite, but his requests to meet with a rabbi in order to faithfully practice his religion have fallen on deaf ears ... while he claims other inmates are granted access to clergy.

The NFL just put its foot down and HEAVILY fined Pete Carroll and two other head coaches for not following COVID mask rules ... and more punishments could still be on the way.

The league has had a serious issue with its coaches not properly wearing their face coverings during games ... and it got so bad in Week 1, officials issued a warning, saying if things didn't change, penalties would ensue.

Seems Seahawks' Carroll, 49ers' Kyle Shanahan and Broncos' Vic Fangio didn't care much ... because they were spotted throughout their Sunday games with no masks on.

On Monday, the league hit them all -- and their respective teams -- with serious fines for the rules violations ... with multiple reports saying each guy was docked $100,000.

Their teams, meanwhile, were reportedly hit with $250,000 fines as well.

These likely won't be the last of the punishments this week either ... because both Raiders' Jon Gruden and Saints' Sean Payton didn't wear their masks properly on "Monday Night Football."

In fact, Gruden wore his mask so little during the game ... he was asked about it afterward -- and that's when he revealed he's actually had the coronavirus and is prepping for a fine nonetheless.

"I’m doing my best," Gruden said. "I’ve had the virus. I’m doing my best. I’m very sensitive about it, but I’m calling plays. I just want to communicate in these situations and I apologize and if I get fined I’ll have to pay the fine, but I’m very sensitive about that and I apologize."

Regina King pulled a real-life hero move by wearing a Breonna Taylor shirt while accepting her Emmy for playing a superhero ... so says Breonna's family attorney, Ben Crump.

The civil rights lawyer was at LAX Monday, sporting a Breonna mask himself, when he lauded the "Watchmen" star and all the other celebs who used their very public platforms at the 2020 Emmys to remind everyone ... justice still hasn't been served.

Crump tells us what Regina and others did keeps Black victims' stories from being swept under the rug. He also said the gesture -- also made by Uzo Aduba during her acceptance -- reminds him of something the iconic Harry Belafonte once said about how and when to use your influence.

Ben added, the continued public support for justice for Breonna keeps him hopeful the cops who killed her will soon be charged.

As we've reported ... no criminal charges have been brought in the case of Breonna's death, but the City of Louisville did reach a settlement last week with her estate. Louisville will pay out a historic amount of money, and also pledged major police reforms.