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This is scary ... a Black Lives Matter protester in Pittsburgh was grabbed by armed men in civilian clothes and yanked into an unmarked van ... and turns out they were cops.

Matthew Cartier was allegedly blocking traffic during the protest and refused commands by officers to clear a path for cars. They say he left but came back and did it again.

Police say the 25-year-old protester was scaring drivers, and that's why they moved in.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said they're reviewing all the video and will have a statement Sunday.

Cartier has been charged with disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and obstructing traffic.

As for armed officers who are not wearing uniforms jumping out of unmarked vans and taking people into custody, the justification appears to be that they don't want to become an obvious flashpoint, but the idea someone can be yanked in a van this way ... well, it's pretty frightening.

UFC honcho Dana White has anointed Stipe Miocic the greatest MMA heavyweight of all time after scoring a victory over Daniel Cormier Saturday night, but it was a real shot in the eye.

Daniel was rendered blind in one eye -- hopefully just temporarily -- after Stipe poked him in the eye in the third round of their UFC 252 rematch. Stipe won by decision, making him a 2-1 victor in their trilogy of fights.

The referee didn't see the poke, but it was squarely caught on camera, and it's pretty gruesome. You see Stipe's finger go right in DC's left eye.

As for the injury ... it's reportedly a tear in his eye, although the extent of the injury has not been disclosed.

DC made it clear after the fight, he couldn't see anything out of his left eye.

Stipe was ahead in rounds 1 and 2, and the eye poke came in round 3 of the 5-round fight, but Dana White says the decision is legit ... “They both got poked in the eye. That eye was hurt before the poke. We got a big group text that goes out and I was like ‘There’s something wrong with Cormier’s eye.’ And then he got poked after that. That didn’t help. But they both got poked. You can’t use that as an excuse.”

A 9-year-old Oklahoma boy yearning for a family might get his wish soon, thanks to his "I hope one of y'all pick me" vid that tugs hard on those heartstrings.

The adorable foster kid, Jordan, has been in the care of the State's Dept. of Human Services for 6 years, but earlier this week he made it clear he'd love nothing more than to have someone to call Mom or Dad ... and the message really resonated in the adoption community.

Casey White, an Oklahoma DHS official, tells TMZ ... there was an explosion of interest in Jordan -- 5,000 online inquiries in the first 12 hours.

Casey says the department had to implement an overtime plan just to handle the calls and emails about adopting Jordan ... and it's focused on finding him the best home STAT.

Jordan's brother is also in Oklahoma, so DHS is looking for another family in the State so the 2 can stay close.

Jordan's been through a lot in his 9 years -- including some traumatic events -- so he needs a patient, understanding family ... preferably one where he's the only child or would have a much older sibling, so he can get the attention and support he needs.

Casey tells us the DHS is confident with the outpouring of love he's received ... he'll be with a loving family within 6 months.

We're told once DHS finds the right fit, there will be a trial period to make sure it's working out ... because he's had adoptions fall through in the past.

For that reason, Jordan's not even aware of his viral fame, because DHS wants to be very careful about not getting his hopes up and hurting him if things don't go according to plan.

This can't be good.

Good luck finding a patch of sand if you tried hitting the beach Saturday in San Diego, because it was wall-to-wall sunbathers.

Thousands of folks hit the beach in the middle of a semi-brutal heatwave in SoCal.

The good news ... San Diego County public health officials said Saturday the positivity rate in the County is fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 tests. And, people are outside, which is way safer than inside.

Still, it's the proverbial packed-in-like-sardines scenario, where almost no one is wearing masks as people are eating, drinking, talking, laughing ... and maybe there's an occasional sneeze or cough. All not good when it comes to spreading the virus.

San Diego wasn't the only Southern California beach that was jammed packed. Check out Venice Beach in L.A. County, where coronavirus is way more prevalent.

Joe Exotic still has Carole Baskin on his mind, even from behind bars ... and wants to get involved in the renewed search to find her missing millionaire husband.

TMZ's learned the 'Tiger King' star wants to jump right into the newly launched push to find out what the hell happened to Don Lewis when he went missing way back in 1997 ... and Don's family is welcoming his assistance.

The day after Don's 3 daughters held their news conference announcing a new lawsuit against Baskin and a fresh investigation, Joe reached out offering info from his prior investigations into Carole ... according to John Phillips, the lawyer for Don’s family.

We're told Don's daughters were down to work with Joe, and right now the plan is for him to speak to their lawyer to figure out what, if any, useful info he has for the investigation.

The family announced a $100,000 reward for info that leads them to Don, and as 'Tiger King' fans know ... Joe dedicated years of his life trying to dig up dirt on Carole, as he thinks she played a role in Don's disappearance.

Don disappeared on August 18, 1997, after leaving his Tampa home ... and some folks allege Carole fed him to her tigers. She's denied all the allegations.

Hidden within this stretched-out snap is a funny female known for not just her hilarious scripts but also her acting and stand-up.

This talented star has been featured in films such as "A Million Ways to Die in the West," "Battle of the Sexes," and much more. She's spent a good portion of her career voice acting, and can be heard in productions such as "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Bob's Burgers."

"Riverdale" star Lili Reinhart is barely old enough to buy a beer ... but already she's living like a Spanish queen -- just take a look at the 23-year-old's new crib.

Lili -- best known for playing Betty Cooper on the hit CW show -- just dropped a cool $2,715,000 for a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house in the San Fernando Valley. The 4,170-square-foot house is a true, Spanish-inspired estate that offers picturesque views.

For starters, there are 10-foot doors that greet guests for one hell of an entrance. In the mood for a little R&R? Grab a bottle from the private, temperature-controlled, 1,300-plus bottle wine room and kick back in either a spa-quality clawfoot tub or in the sprawling grassy area where you can jump in the pool or spa.

Although the house is a bit of a throwback with its Spanish charm, it was remodled in 2017. BTW, buying a house has been on Lili's mind for a while. Earlier this year, we saw her out scoping houses ... and no doubt this house oozing in Spanish authenticity was more than enough to get her to drop a fortune.

This week's Summer Hot Shots is coming to you from the beaches of Illinois where influencer and model Lexi Mars shot some scorching photos wearing a scarlet swimsuit with her canine companion in Lake Forest!

When this dog mama isn't burning up the midwest coastline with bikinis and her pup Boomer she can be spotted on her YouTube channel trying on the latest looks and sharing secret tips and tricks on her TikTok channel.

When it comes to looks ... Mars is on another planet!

This year’s Summer Hot Shots are coming to you a little differently … we have teamed up with smoke shows from around the world to create some eye-popping photo galleries with a DIY flare (social distancing, duh!) for you to enjoy.

A young New Yorker drew outrage for taking a dip in the infamous Hudson River -- but as it turns out, she might've had the last laugh ... 'cause it's actually safer than you might think.

TikTok user Donna P -- a 20-year-old food blogger from the Big Apple -- posted some videos of herself jumping off a boat into the murky waters right near the Statue of Liberty, which put a whole lot of Twitter truthers into a tizzy ... with a lot of them calling her out.

Folks were making fun of her, saying she was foolish and generally deriding the fact she thought this could possibly be safe ... not to mention she did it with so much verve and free-spirited passion. Basically, people thought this was downright dumb, putting her health at risk just for a TikTok video. There were also plenty of jokes and memes to go around.

BUT, it looks like Donna mostly walks away with the W in this sitch, 'cause she did her homework. When she caught wind of the "backlash," she decided to do a bit of research and took people to school with the facts -- per the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

If you go to their page about the Hudson River, it dishes out a lot of info as to whether it's safe or not to swim in. Long story short ... yes and no. The Dept. notes, generally speaking, it probably won't do much harm to take a swim or a dive. Fact is, the river's not quite as toxic or polluted as it was in the old days -- even though people are under the impression that it very much is. BTW, Donna tells us she knew this going in ... and that she's fine.

Now, we don't recommend taking to New York's river waters regularly -- good for the back as it might be. Frankly, it's probably not the best habit, 'cause there can still be some gnarly stuff in there that could be harmful. Different parts of the Hudson are certainly worse than others, and rain runoff can mix in with the city sewage and can seep in, even today.

A prison inmate in Connecticut hanged himself behind bars, and officials say he did it with the very face mask they provided him to fight off COVID-19.

32-year-old Daniel Ocasio was found dead Wednesday at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville, with a ligature tied around his neck. That ligature was from the cloth mask issued to every inmate to prevent the spread of coronavirus from inside.

The Connecticut DOC says he was discovered in his cell around 5 AM, after which life-saving measures were administered ... before he was transferred to a hospital and later pronounced dead. The Medical Examiner's Office there ruled his death to be a suicide by hanging.

Ocasio had been at the prison since August 5 on a 3rd-degree burglary charge ... held on a $10,000 bond. Usually, paying 10% of that amount up front will get someone sprung.

Kanye West gave a belated shout-out to Kamala Harris, but he's not gonna vote for her.

Ye just tweeted, "I know my mom and Kamala Harris would have been friends ... congratulations on being the democratic Vice President nominee ... all love and respect from the future president.  It's an honor to run against you."

So much to say. First, it's cool that Kanye gave the Senator some props. Second, it's also cool he thought about how Donda, his late mom, would have been proud of Joe Biden's pick.

All that said ... Kanye has made it clear -- he's in it to win it, and as we've been reporting, he's trying to get on the November ballot in certain states.

The ongoing intrigue ... what's Kanye's connection to Trump? He's supported him in the past, and Rudy Giuliani told us last weekend he believes Kanye secretly still loves Trump. And then, there's Jared Kushner, who secretly met with Kanye and speaks to him on the phone. Kushner denies they talk politics -- just policy, but it's hard/impossible to believe that.

It seems Trump's people believe Kanye could be a spoiler and hurt Biden by siphoning off black votes from the Democrats.

TikTok might be on the verge of shutting down in the U.S., but its American stars are far from winding down -- in fact, they're doing the opposite ... dangerously turning up.

Check out these videos that were captured Friday night from a massive house party out in the Hollywood Hills, celebrating the 21st birthday of TikToker and YouTube personality Bryce Hall. It's ridiculously packed, and of course ... no one is wearing a mask or distanced at all.

Just looking at the raucous scene -- which was full of dancing, drinking and eventually stripping too -- it's clear this isn't safe, but it doesn't look like Bryce and the rest of the (new) Sway House inhabitants really give a damn, and neither do their guests.

It's crazy ... because you literally see a lot of famous faces here -- tons of other TikTok stars and viral personalities and even some reality TV stars too, like Harry Jowsey from 'Too Hot to Handle.' Looks like it was a who's who of Gen Z fame, really. And, yes ... things got wild.

At one point, some male strippers dressed as cops come in and dance on Bryce -- and then later, the female strippers are brought in and do more of the same. Finally, real cops showed.

Word is the shindig got shut down around 4 AM or so, when LAPD rolled through and kicked everyone out. You see this and wonder ... maybe a TikTok ban ain't that bad of an idea.

A woman in Hawaii broke up a small beach wedding because of COVID-19 -- shaming the group for gathering and chasing them off, which begs the question ... too much, or right on?

Check out this video. The woman -- who appears to be a resident near Waimanalo Beach in O'ahu -- catches wind of a secret wedding ceremony going down nearby and busts in lock, stock and barrel ... shamelessly interrupting the proceedings.

She comes upon a group of maybe 7 people -- some of whom are young children -- who are bearing witness to an intimate ceremony between a couple ... with what looks to be a minister and a photog on hand as well. They're not even on or around the main area of the beach -- everyone is tucked back behind some shrubbery, sorta hidden from view.

That itself appears to be crossing the line for the woman, who reminds them the beaches in town are closed ... and what they're doing is illegal. But, it sure looks like they're on private property, and if not just inches beyond.

The woman goes so far as threatening to call cops as everyone makes their way back to the rental home.

There are 2 issues ... if the group is on private property, the lady is clearly in the wrong. If, on the other hand, they are on the public beach, well they shouldn't be ... but they're so close to private property waging war seems like an overreaction.

Forget we're in the middle of a make-or-break election ... Cardi B is already setting her sights on 2024, because she's got her eye on AOC.

Cardi just tweeted that she wants Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to throw her name in the ring for President when she turns 35 ... the required age under the Constitution.

AOC is clearly a Cardi fan ... check out her moves dancing to "Bodak Yellow." But, she's also become a big star in the Democratic party -- or at least the progressive wing of the party -- she'll give a speech next week at the Dem's convention to put Bernie Sander's name in the mix. It's a formality since Joe Biden will become the party's nominee, but AOC will have primetime exposure.

So, here's the deal. AOC is 30 ... she'll turn 31 in October. So, if she were to run in 2024, she'd be 34 -- one year shy of the minimum requirement, but WAIT. We checked the Constitution, and it says anyone can run when they're under 35 as long as they hit that age before being sworn in. Since the swearing-in would be January 20, 2025 ... she'd qualify.

Kanye West just tweeted something that seemed to cast shade in Taylor Swift's direction, but it also seems it might be directed at Kim.

Kanye, who's ensconced at his Wyoming ranch, tweeted a pic of a rattlesnake with the caption, "Not gonna use a snake emoji cause you know why ... I'm not sure if Christians are allowed to use snake emojis."

You probably recall Ye's war with Taylor Swift back in 2016, when Kanye said he gave Taylor a heads up before releasing his song, "Famous," which included the lyric, "I made that bitch famous."  Taylor begged to differ and the war was on.

Kim jumped to Kanye's defense, using snake emojis to call Taylor a "snake" after Swift said she was blindsided by the lyric.

Taylor then used a giant, robotic snake during her "Reputation" tour.

So, Ye saying it's not the Christian thing to do sure seems like shade. It's unclear what got Kanye heated since the feud is 4 years old. That said, it's interesting the only person who used snake emojis was Kim, not Taylor.