Controversial S#!T

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez heaped praise on countless teens who punked Donald Trump and his campaign Saturday night in a big, big way.

Trump and co. had been touting that huge crowds -- 100,000 strong -- would show up for his Tulsa rally, yet he couldn't even fill a 19,000 seat arena ... it was only 2/3 full.

Enter TikTok users and K-pop fans, who started their own campaign, registering for tickets to the Trump rally with obviously no intention of going. This is why, in part, the Trump campaign bragged 1 million people had registered.

AOC was beside herself, saying ... "you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID. Shout out to Zoomers. Y’all make me so proud."

The founder of a gaming company is seeing the light -- she's aborting efforts to create a "Black Lives Matter" board game, and admits, despite good intentions ... there's a better way to fight racism.

Shari Spiro's the owner of AdMagic Inc., and last week she filed to trademark the 'BLM' phrase. Spiro told TMZ her plan was to help the organization create some type of educational tool -- possibly a 'BLM' card or board game -- to teach people about the movement.

Spiro added, she was not doing it for financial gain or publicity, and told us she was even going to donate the trademark -- if approved -- back to the Black Lives Matter org.

A couple days later, however, she reached out to tell us she's abandoning her application ... saying she now understands it was "tone deaf" to try it in the first place.

Spiro says even though her goal was to do good for the BLM movement, she recognizes "that 'good intentions' can still be unhelpful."

She adds ... "Moving forward, I will listen and learn so that I can be a better ally in the fight against racism." Spiro says her withdrawal of the trademark will be officially on the books within a few days.

It should be noted ... Spiro's not the first person to run to the trademark office since BLM protests started spreading after the death of George Floyd. Another businessman also recently withdrew applications for "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe."

Ex-NBA star Shawn Marion says the LAST thing players should do is sit out the 2020 season ... saying sitting out will diminish their chances at making a bigger difference in the fight against racism.

Superstars like Kyrie Irving have expressed their uncertainty over restarting the season in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement ... with the Nets star saying players' focus should be on fighting for social justice.

Ex-NBAer Stephen Jackson -- who was friends with George Floyd -- sided with Kyrie ... saying, "now ain't the time to be playing basketball, y'all."

But, the Matrix disagrees with the idea of sitting out ... saying the biggest platform to fight for social justice is on the NBA stage.

"In order for you to advocate and go out here and show what you're fighting for and the causes, you need to be on TV," Marion says.

"Social media is a great platform, but TV is a bigger platform because you can post whatever you post on TV, you can post to your social media platform."

"So, with the season resuming, it adds to that cause."

Matrix -- who acknowledges Uncle Drew has a valid point -- says players will be able to speak out in interviews and press conferences ... which brings a much bigger audience than a Twitter account.

But, as for sitting? -- "I don't agree with that."

"What is sitting out, boycotting, not playing the season -- what is that gonna accomplish really?"

An apparent newborn baby got dragged out to the crockpot of potential disease festering in Tulsa -- and like mother, the kid too is unmasked ... and surrounded by hordes of bodies.

This screenshot is from a video that was filmed and posted on social media Saturday outside of the BOK Center in downtown, where Trump is hosting a rally -- the first one he's held in months since the start of the pandemic, and which promises to be packed.

The person who posted this was documenting her day ahead of the actual rally later this evening, and one of the last posts on her IG story shows this woman with what looks like a recently born child. The woman who posted says 3 weeks old -- tagging it #BabiesForTrump.

It looks like she had a convo with the mother -- in her original story, the woman comes over and seems to mouth some words to her.

A Louisiana city official who resisted taking Robert E. Lee out of a school's name got taken to task by a black activist, who forced her to leave a meeting in utter shame.

This epic take-down of words went down Thursday during a Baton Rouge School Board meeting, where District 8 member Connie Bernard was publicly called out by Gary Chambers Jr., who stepped to the mic and unloaded on what he described as her inherent racism.

A bit of context ... part of the purpose for Thursday's meeting was to circle back to an issue that'd been discussed recently in the community -- namely, taking the "Lee" out of Lee High School, which was already a stripped-down version of Robert E. Lee High School.

Several members of the community have been calling for a full-blown name change of late, and School Board Member Bernard said last week folks offended by REL needed to brush up on their history. Welp, Mr. Chambers Jr. here had some things to say about that.

For starters, he addressed the fact that it appeared Ms. Bernard was captured on camera online shopping from her laptop during the meeting, while members of the public were airing out their grievances on the topic.

Tulsa police just did something that does not bode well for a peaceful protest .... they arrested a woman wearing an "I Can't Breathe" shirt for trespassing -- despite the fact she had a ticket to Donald Trump's rally.

Sheila Buck was taken into custody by a group of cops as she sat and protested Saturday night's rally.

She was locked in a standoff with cops for 8 minutes, when police decided they had enough and dragged her away in cuffs.

Check out the video of Sheila before she was arrested ... tensions are fast-approaching a boiling point.

It's unclear if the cops are following through with Trump's threats Friday, when he tweeted, "Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!"

Seems like the President wants a repeat of the scene outside The White House a few weeks back, when protesters were gassed and shot at with rubber bullets so Trump could nonsensically hold a bible in front of an historic church.

A woman was shot in the leg during a protest Friday night near the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was shot in the back and killed.

The protest, which was held on Juneteenth, was peaceful until suddenly, shots rang out. Eyewitnesses say they heard around 20 shots, and you can certainly hear a number of them in the video.

The woman who was shot was conscious and her injuries seem to be non-life-threatening. She was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

It was the third shooting in Atlanta Friday night, as the city grapples with the tragic death of Rayshard Brooks and the arrests of the 2 officers.

Tiffany Haddish has become a strong voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, and on Friday she mixed in a little comedy to make a point about how to deal with white guilt.

Tiffany was outside The Laugh Factory in WeHo Friday afternoon, which was hosting a Juneteenth forum to "celebrate, protest, and learn from community leaders and star-studded comedians."

So, Tiffany talked about the American dream, which in the past has partly involved ownership of land and other things of value. She said if some people are processing white guilt and trying to figure out how to make things right ... well, Tiff's got some ideas.

She suggests a little redistribution of wealth ... maybe an acre or 2 here and there. For a more modest redistribution of wealth, Tiffany suggests buying some herbs, vitamins and Moon Juice.

Her message ... "Don't just own debt, own a piece of America."

Adrian Peterson tells TMZ Sports he applauds the decision to remove a monument dedicated to a racist ex-Washington Redskins owner ... saying, "It makes me feel good."

As we previously reported, the people who run RFK Stadium dug up and removed their George Preston Marshall statue on Friday -- citing his racist policies of not signing black players for decades.

Peterson, who's been with Washington since 2018, says it's about time.

"Obviously, in different states all over this country, you've got monuments, buildings and stuff and statues that are named after people that owned slaves, people that were racists."

AP believes the tributes were part of a bigger plan to "keep the minorities and the blacks, colored people down."

But, now that there's a movement to get rid of tributes to racists and other bad people, Peterson says "It just shows that God is watching over us to be able to get to a point now where they are removing some of those statuses and trying to pave a new way."

We also spoke with AP about the controversy over the Redskins name.

Peterson says he's constantly trying to educate himself on the issue -- but understands both sides of the argument.

There's more ... AP also talked about how A&A Peterson Family Foundation is helping out during the COVID-19 pandemic and what steps he's taking to protect himself.

Brett Hankison, one of the 3 Louisville cops who fired their weapons during the deadly March 13 raid at Breonna Taylor's home ... is about to be tossed off the force.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer just announced Hankison will no longer be employed by the Louisville Metro Police Department.

A letter from police Chief Robert Schroeder says Hankison had "violated obedience to rules and regulations," and use of deadly force while serving the no-knock warrant at Breonna's home.

The letter also says, Hankison "displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life when [he] wantonly and blindly fired 10 rounds into the apartment of Breonna Taylor." The chief also calls out Hankison for firing on someone he did not know posed a threat, and also for firing through a patio door without knowing who or what was on the other side of it.

As we've reported ... the 3 officers -- which includes Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove -- had been placed on administrative reassignment but were still part of the force, until Hankison's Friday firing.

On Thursday, KY Attorney General Daniel Cameron addressed the investigation into Taylor's death, saying his team was working nonstop ... but had nothing to report yet in terms of possible charges for the officers.

Instead, he pled for patience and peace and vowed to follow the truth and be "thorough and fair" to everyone involved.

"Dear Whore ... "

That's how it began -- a disgusting piece of hate mail some racist coward sent to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss -- and now she's calling him out publicly.

"After 60 years as a huge Lakers fan, I now say to hell with the overpaid n***** traitors and the NBA."

"Go to hell and join **** Kobe Bryant."

The letter was signed by a man named Joe.

Jeanie says she thought a lot about what to do with the letter after receiving it on Monday -- but ultimately decided to post it on social media "so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there."

"This is happening in our world TODAY. It's real and it exists."

Buss also posted a message to Joe ...

"Did sending this letter make you feel better? Really all you did was waste your time, and energy and your postage stamp. (But thank you for including your return home address) Why don’t you look in the mirror and see your ugliness because I refuse to."

Jeanie says she's received similar letters over the years and always thought it was best to just ignore the haters -- "but not anymore."

"On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better."

Jeanie's post is already resonating with LeBron James -- who showed his support for Buss on Instagram.

Well that didn't take long -- a day after AMC Theatres announced plans to reopen without a strict mask-wearing policy in place, it's reversed course ... all of its guests will now have to cover their faces when it reopens.

AMC CEO Adam Aron sparked a major controversy Thursday when he revealed he was trying to do the opposite ... by NOT requiring guests to wear masks when it resumes operations on July 15.

Aron said, "We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy ... We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary."

So, Aron said it would be up to guests in states where mask-wearing is not required to decide if they want to wear one or not. He added ... "We think that the vast majority of AMC guests will be wearing masks. When I go to an AMC feature, I will certainly be wearing a mask and leading by example."

No need to be an example now, though, because AMC announced Friday it had made an error. The theater chain says its lax mask policy "prompted an intense and immediate outcry from our customers, and it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks."

AMC's 600+ venues have been closed for almost 4 months, but it's set to reopen 450 of those locations in mid-July, and plans to be fully back in business by the time Disney’s “Mulan” is released, on July 24.

Seating capacity will be greatly reduced, however, and eating popcorn ... well, that will simply be more challenging.

Donald Trump has drawn the battle lines ... if the NFL allows players to take a knee during the national anthem in 2020, POTUS says his days watching pro football are over!

President Trump made his threat during a Friday morning tweet that initially took aim at Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Remember, earlier this week Fauci warned America that a second wave of COVID-19 could impact pro sports -- and said straight-up, "Football may not happen this year."

"It would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall," Fauci told CNN. "If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year."

Enter Trump ... who went to bat for the NFL before issuing an ultimatum in the same breath.

"Tony Fauci has nothing to do with NFL Football," Trump said ... "They are planning a very safe and controlled opening."

Then the warning to the NFL -- "However, if they don’t stand for our National Anthem and our Great American Flag, I won’t be watching!!!"

Looks like Trump might have to bail -- because NFL Commish Roger Goodell put out a video earlier this month admitting the league bungled the way it handled NFL kneelers in the past and vowed to be more tolerant of nonviolent protesters in the future.

Ex-NFL star Ryan Clark just gave an extremely emotional speech about being a black father in America ... breaking down in tears discussing his son's recent experience with racism.

Clark's son, Jordan -- alongside 2 Arizona State football teammates -- claim they were called the n-word by a Whataburger customer this week ... and instead of de-escalating, the restaurant manager threatened to call the police on the players.

You can read Jordan's entire narrative on the incident below.

Clark spoke on the incident with ESPN's "Get Up" on Friday morning ... saying he's thankful his son is still alive.

"I'm playing out a scenario of if this woman would've had a weapon and she could easily say that these 3 young black men were threatening her ... I believe that if that woman pulls a gun on those young men and that woman pulls the trigger, I believe that she's never punished," Clark says.

"I believe that justice is never served. And, even if justice is served, it's not enough to bring my son back."

"This isn't just a fear for me every day, this has been a fear for black people forever."

"If something would have happened to him, it would have broke me," Clark says. "So for me, I have to do a better job of educating him, and I have to protect him."

"I know it's getting better, but it's not better yet, better for everybody."

Clark says he wishes he would have taught his son to never approach a white person's vehicle ... knowing what could happen if he runs into the wrong person.

The entire segment is powerful ... Clark sobs as he thinks about what could have happened, given today's climate.

As for Whataburger, the chain released a statement on the incident ... saying, "We do not tolerate racism and were horrified to hear how these customers were treated by another customer."

The people who operate RFK Stadium are finally removing a monument dedicated to a racist former owner of the Washington Redskins,

Events D.C., which runs the stadium where the Skins used to play, ordered the removal of the George Preston Marshall statue on Friday ... and if you know anything about the guy, it's easy to see why.

Marshall -- the Redskins' founding father and Pro Football Hall of Famer -- famously refused to sign black players for DECADES.

In fact, he was quoted as saying once, "We will sign black players when the Harlem Globetrotters start playing white players."

His anti-African-American stance lasted all the way until the early 1960s ... when government officials threatened to force him out of RFK Stadium if he didn't sign black players.

FYI, Marshall died in 1969. He was 72.

People have been calling for the 'Skins to remove the monument at the park for years ... and finally, in the wake of national protests, the people who operate the stadium relented this week.

It's just the latest statue to be scrapped as America tries to sever its ties with its racist past ... in Minnesota, the Twins announced they're removing a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith.

Similar to Marshall, Griffith had been openly racist against black people ... and in a statement Friday, the Twins said, "His disparaging words displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value."

Redskins' nickname, you're up next.

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter says his father has been released from custody in Turkey -- 7 years after he was "wrongfully" arrested.

For years, Enes has said officials in his home country have been going after his dad Mehmet Kanter because Enes has been publicly critical of the Turkish government -- particularly, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Back in 2017, Enes explained ... "The police raided our home in Istanbul, something that is happening to many innocent families across Turkey just because they are members of Hizmet, inspired by Scholar, Fethullah Gulen."

"My father is arrested because of my outspoken criticism of the ruling party. He may get tortured for simply being my family member."

In fact, Enes has been a wanted man himself in Turkey -- the government accused him of being a member of an armed anti-government terrorist organization, which Enes has adamantly denied.

But, some good news ... Enes says his dad is now free.

"Wow! I could cry. Today I found out that 7 years after arresting my dad, taking him through a Kangaroo court and accusing him of being a criminal just because he is my dad.  MY DAD HAS BEEN RELEASED!"

Enes explained, "This is due to the pressure we have put on the Turkish regime."

"They no longer could keep him from his freedom because of the spotlight that we all put on this case!  However! He is just one person, there are still tens of thousands of people wrongfully in jail in Turkey.  I will not forget you, we will not forget you!"