Police

One of the 4 ex-cops charged in the brutal killing of George Floyd was confronted by an angry shopper who bristled when he told her he was sorry she felt the way she did.

J. Alexander Kueng was shopping at Cub Foods in Plymouth, Minnesota Saturday when a woman spotted him. Kueng was captured on video standing by as Derek Chauvin mercilessly put his knee on George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Kueng acknowledged who he was as the woman recorded him, and when he told her he was sorry she was feeling the way she was ... she was more than eager to display her feelings.

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."

Brett Favre says Colin Kaepernick's willingness to leave his NFL career to fight for social justice reminds him of Pat Tillman's ultimate sacrifice ... and now, he's telling TMZ Sports he thinks both will be remembered as heroes.

The Hall of Fame QB spoke with us about Colin this week ... and told us straight-up he believes Kaepernick will go down as a legend for what he's done to combat systemic racism.

"It's not easy for a guy his age -- black or white, Hispanic, whatever -- to stop something that you've always dreamed of doing, and put it on hold, maybe forever, for something that you believe in," Favre said.

Brett told us he believes it's all very similar to what Tillman did when he left the NFL to fight for his country in the Army in the aftermath of 9/11.

"I can only think of right off the top of my head, Pat Tillman is another guy that did something similar," Favre said. "And, we regard him as a hero. So, I'd assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well."

It's lofty praise from the former Green Bay Packers superstar ... but Favre clearly believes Kaep gave up a legitimate NFL career to make his message heard.

Brett tells us even despite a 3-year-plus layoff, he thinks Colin can STILL be an effective QB in the NFL today.

"I thought he was a dynamic player when he was playing in his prime," Favre said. "He's still young and hasn't been hit in several years, so there's no reason to think that he's lost that much of a step."

For Colin's part, we're told he's training like a maniac to get back in the league ... and at least one team -- the L.A. Chargers -- has said it'll consider giving him a tryout this season.

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?"

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.

The Kansas City cop who shot and killed Cameron Lamb is now charged with manslaughter, but Lamb's parents are expecting even more consequences after getting a face-to-face promise from President Trump.

Laurie and Aqil Bey were at the White House earlier this week with their attorney Lee Merritt, and had a chance to discuss Cameron's death with the President. They say he was polite and attentive during the meeting, and said he would put the feds on the case.

They say it was a heartening convo, and now they're hoping POTUS follows through. There are a lot of loose ends in the puzzling case.

Thursday evening, a grand jury indicted officer Eric DeValkenaere, charging him with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the reckless death of Cameron, a father to 3 young boys.

ICYMI ... Cameron was backing his truck into his garage last December when 2 plain-clothed officers burst onto his property without a warrant and without announcing themselves as cops.

DeValkenaere says he fired the fatal shots because he thought Cameron had a gun in his hand, but his partner has testified Cameron's hand was empty.

Merritt says the feds need to step in and investigate the entire KCPD, because the family has good reason to believe a gun was planted in the garage to make it look like Cameron was armed.

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.

The final public hearing for Cincinnati's 2021 budget turned into total chaos after a resident tried to make a case for directing more funding toward police.

The wild scene played out Thursday evening at the Duke Energy Center, where a Cincy resident sparked boos from the crowd by getting on the mic and laying out reasons to increase law enforcement's budget.

He was almost immediately drowned out by a chorus of boos, and city council member David Mann announced he was ending the hearing 5 hours early, which only seemed to pour lighter fluid on an already heated situation.

After the abrupt end to the public forum, dozens of folks charged the stage in protest. Council members tried to resume the hearing, but Mann beelined out of the room and, ironically, police were called in to restore order.

One of the cops involved in Rayshard Brooks' shooting has turned himself in and he's been charged with aggravated assault ... TMZ has learned.

In addition to aggravated assault, Devin Brosnan faces 3 acts of violation of oath by a public officer ... according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office in Atlanta.

Garrett Rolfe the cop who shot Rayshard -- and is charged with felony murder -- has not turned himself yet. The D.A. gave him until Thursday evening to do so.

As we reported ... Fulton County D.A. Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Garrett Rolfe, including multiple counts of aggravated assault. Howard claims Rolfe kicked Rayshard while he lay dying.

Howard didn't mince words ... he doesn't believe Rolfe feared for his life and noted Rayshard had been cordial, cooperative and calm for more than 41 minutes before he was fatally shot.

The D.A. also said Rolfe was not motivated by fear but rather "another type of emotion." Howard didn't specifically say which emotion, but did say you can hear Rolfe right after he shot Brooks say, "I got him."

The investigation into Breonna Taylor's death -- at the hands of Louisville cops -- should be addressed Thursday by KY Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who's now special prosecutor on the case.

TMZ will be live streaming Cameron's news conference in Frankfort at 3 PM ET. While his office says it will be "informational only" -- meaning charges won't be announced -- Cameron certainly has a lot to address regarding the case ... including allegations of a cover-up.

It's interesting because earlier Thursday ... a courthouse in Louisville was boarded up and staffers were told to leave the building. Word is they were informed no charges were going to be filed against the 3 Louisville Metro Police officers who fired their weapons March 13 while raiding Breonna's home ... and they're anticipating rioting in response.

Our sources say, the AG is not making any such announcement and doesn't know how that rumor started.

As for those 3 cops -- Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove -- none of them have lost their jobs or been suspended. All 3 have simply been placed on administrative reassignment for now.

As we've reported ... Breonna -- a 26-year-old ER technician -- was shot 8 times after the officers arrived in plainclothes shortly after midnight to serve a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.

Though police claim they announced themselves, Breonna and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, allegedly didn't hear them, and Walker fired on the officers after they used a battering ram to open the door.

Walker says he thought the cops were intruders, and Breonna was killed in the ensuing gunfire. According to Taylor's legal team ... they have 16 neighbors who claim the plainclothes officers didn't announce their presence before going inside.

Even worse -- the initial police report about the raid stated there were "no injuries" ... which obviously doesn't make any sense. The major issue with the case, unlike George Floyd's killing, is no audio or video of the incident has surfaced ... at least not yet.

We broke the story ... Breonna's mother and attorneys believe there may be more evidence than law enforcement has been willing to disclose, and are demanding the release of documents and any footage available. Taylor's side believes a "cover-up" might be afoot.

Of course, Breonna's story is one of several about black Americans being killed by cops that has sparked nationwide protests to end racism and police brutality ... and the movement's still demanding justice for her.

WNBA star Renee Montgomery will NOT be taking the court when the 2020 season returns in July ... saying she's going to use her time to fight for social justice instead.

Montgomery -- the 4th overall pick out of UConn in 2009 -- made the announcement on Twitter early Thursday ... deciding her services are needed elsewhere.

"After much thought, I’ve decided to opt out of the 2020 WNBA season," the Atlanta Dream guard said. "There’s work to be done off the court in so many areas in our community."

"Social justice reform isn’t going to happen overnight but I do feel that now is the time and Moments equal Momentum. Lets keep it going!"

Montgomery joins superstar Maya Moore, who temporarily left the game to help fight for justice for Jonathan Irons ... a 39-year-old man she believes is wrongfully convicted of burglary and assaulting a homeowner with a gun when he was 16.

Dream coach Nicki Collen released a statement supporting Montgomery's decision, saying, "While I am saddened Renee will not be in a Dream uniform this summer, I am incredibly proud of her passion for her foundation, her outreach in the community and her chance to impact the Black Lives Matter movement with her platform as a WNBA athlete."

A white man accosted a trio of 15-year-old girls -- one of them black -- and threatened to call security and have them arrested ... and his tirade was caught on video.

The confrontation went down Sunday in Wellington, Florida, after the man began following the girls in his car as they were riding with 2 boys on a golf cart.

He was allegedly upset about the cart blocking him, but instead of going around he chose to tailgate them ... and continued following the 3 girls as they hopped off to walk to the home of Breonna Nelson-Hicks, the black girl seen in the video.

As you can see ... the man angrily accused the girls of not belonging in the development, then said he's going call the gate and have them all arrested. He added ... "You do not deserve to be in here."

When he started pleading his case to a neighbor, the girls chimed in and said he was going to hit them with his car. Finally, Breonna had enough and went in her house to get her grandfather, Tony Nelson.

BTW -- the angry guy's reasoning for accosting 15-year-olds seemed very strange.

Grandpa Tony eventually confronted the man about threatening the kids ... which he oddly denied, and that's where the video stops.

Tony's convo with the man didn't, though. He tells The Palm Beach Post they continued to talk and the man tried to defend his actions, but at one point talked about apologizing to the teens.

Tony says it was too late for that, though -- because Breonna was "hysterical" after the incident -- and he called the cops to file a report. The man did, as well, and claimed he almost hit the golf cart being driven by the teens.

George Floyd's name seems to be heading toward foundation status -- 'cause his family is already making moves to lock up the rights to something called just that ... TMZ has learned.

George's brother, Philonise Floyd, recently applied to trademark the phrase "The George Floyd Foundation" -- and if he gets it, he'll be able to use it to teach and advocate.

Philonise is looking to put "The George Floyd Foundation" on downloadable software for mobile phones that educate on police reform, downloadable media files featuring documentaries about George and other digital materials like DVDs, and audio and video files.

He also wants to feature "The George Floyd Foundation" on a website dedicated to police reform, as well as downloadable documents and PDFs with information on the topic too.

But, there's more -- if Philonise gets this trademark, he'll also be able to slap that phrasing on COVID-19 face coverings, sweatshirts and T-shirts, baseball caps ... and even charitable fundraising events to support families who've fallen victim to police brutality.

Philonise also reveals in the application that he and the fam aim to conduct business seminars on social justice and police reform. So, yeah ... it looks like they're going for the works here in terms of starting a full-blown nonprofit for their deceased relative.

The elderly man who was violently shoved to the ground by cops in Buffalo can't go home whenever he's released from the hospital ... because there are threats against his life.

Martin Gugino's attorney, Kelly Zarcone, tells TMZ ... it's not safe for the 75-year-old man to return to his residence when he's healthy enough to leave the hospital ... because he's getting a constant barrage of threats.

We're told the threats are flooding in from folks who mistakenly believe a false claim going around about Martin -- that he's been arrested 300 times and has a long history of inciting riots.

Martin's attorney says in reality, the senior citizen has only been arrested 4 times for peacefully protesting, and only one arrest resulted in a criminal charge for trespassing, and he was acquitted.

As you know ... Martin is the same peaceful protester President Trump recently suggested -- without a shred of evidence -- might've been a provocateur with ties to Antifa who went to the protest to cause chaos and dissent.

Martin's lawyer has shot Trump's claim down as incredibly offensive and completely false, and she says Martin protests injustices he sees on various issues but is always peaceful.

A man who was recording video of cops pouncing on a protester from his building got his window blasted ... and he's looking for the officer he believes fired at him.

Twitter user Kentucky Kenji says he was shooting the Black Lives Matter protests in Louisville earlier this week, and as he got close to his window to zoom in on some potential police brutality, he got shot at.

As you can see, his window got smashed by a projectile -- looks like a rubber bullet or a pepper ball -- and the damage was visible as he backed away. Makes ya think ... they're non-lethal rounds, but damn!!! If one of those hit you from 20-30 feet away?

It's unclear exactly who shot at him, but Kenji's looking for "the name of the cop who shot at me."