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UNLV has said adios to Hey Reb! ... the school just canned its famous on-campus mascot statue -- and now, its sports teams' nicknames could be next.

The university removed the heavy bronze bust -- which sat outside the Tam Alumni Center -- on Tuesday, with the school's president appearing to acknowledge it's because of its controversial Confederate ties.

"In recent conversations with the donor," President Marta Meana said in a letter to students, "We mutually agreed it was best to remove the statue and return it."

Meana seemed to strongly indicate the future of the school's "Runnin' Rebels" nickname and the mascot that comes with it could be in doubt as well.

"I have had discussions with multiple individuals and stakeholder groups from campus and the community on how best the university can move forward given recent events throughout our nation," she said.

"That includes the future of our mascot."

Of course, in the wake of George Floyd's tragic death ... protestors all over the nation have called for the removal of statues and figures that honor America's Confederate roots.

Sculptures all across the country have been torn down ... while NASCAR has even banned Confederate flags from its racetracks forever.

So, could this officially spell the end for the "Rebels" name at UNLV??

The elderly man who was shoved to the ground by police officers in Buffalo was as badly injured as he appeared on camera -- he has a crack in his skull and, for now ... he can't walk.

Martin Gugino's attorney, Kelly Zarcone, says the 75-year-old suffered a fractured skull from the push and fall. She added that Martin is unable to get up on his own 2 feet for the time being while he recuperates. He was released from ICU last week, but remains hospitalized.

Zarcone also released a statement directly from Martin, who says ... "I think it's very unnecessary to focus on me. There are plenty of other things to think about besides me."

This is the same peaceful protester President Trump recently suggested -- without evidence -- might've been an Antifa-tied provocateur there to cause dissent and chaos. Martin's lawyer shot that down as completely false and incredibly offensive.

Meanwhile, on the legal front, the 2 officers who were charged with second-degree assault charges have pled not guilty, and remain suspended without pay.

Every team in the Premier League will wear "Black Lives Matter" threads when the season restarts ... with the powerful message replacing names on the back of players' shirts.

Check out one of the kits posted by Sheffield United on Tuesday ... the unis not only feature "BLM" on the nameplates, they also have a "Black Lives Matter" patch on the sleeve.

Players from all 20 teams came up with the idea to show solidarity with the movement earlier this month ... and will wear the special jerseys for the first 12 games once the season returns from COVID-19 suspension.

The players released a statement on the decision, saying, "We, the Players, stand together with the singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists, to bring about a global society of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities for All, regardless of their colour or creed."

"This symbol is a sign of unity from all Players, all Staff, all Clubs, all Match Officials and the Premier League #blacklivesmatter #playerstogether."

Rayshard Brooks' family members say fake GoFundMe pages soliciting donations on their behalf have sprung up all over the crowd-sourcing site ... and they want 'em gone, immediately.

One of Rayshard's cousins, Decatur Redd, tells TMZ ... he and his other relatives have spotted a ton of fraudulent pages in recent days for Rayshard and/or "his family." He says it's a frustrating nuisance for the real family, because they've only approved one true GFM.

We're told Decatur reached out to GoFundMe to get these phony pages taken down, but hasn't heard back, so he's warning the public -- do NOT fall for these opportunistic rip-off pages.

We reached out, and GoFundMe says it's aware of the situation, and keeping an eye out for fakes pages. From the looks of it, some of them have been deleted already.

It also looks like the legit page is amassing the majority of donations -- upwards of $105k and counting. The phonies have a small fraction of that, so it seems most of the public is hip to the game.

Decatur also told us he wants Garrett Rolfe, the now ex-cop who shot and killed Rayshard, to be charged with murder. He stopped short of saying what he deserved as punishment, telling us it'll be up to a judge if Rolfe gets charged and or convicted.

As far as the Wendy's getting burned to the ground ... Decatur says he doesn't condone it, but admits it felt cathartic when he saw video of it. He described it as a release ... almost like the start of his healing.

It goes without saying ... Rayshard's killing has hit Decatur incredibly hard -- he was seen openly weeping and had to be held back during Monday's emotional news conference.

The latest scene of protesters attempting to topple a statue -- this one of a Spanish conquistador -- exploded in violence when an armed civilian militia allegedly opened fire on a New Mexico protester.

The militia -- an extremist group called the New Mexico Civil Guard -- was standing guard Monday over a statue of Juan de Oñate in front of the Albuquerque Museum. A group of protesters had gathered with the goal of taking it down ... as we've seen happen recently in several cities.

At one point, witnesses told police that somebody swung a pickax at the base of the statue ... and that's when shots rang out and people were screaming someone had been shot.

The victim was hit by one bullet, and fellow protesters huddled around him as he was laid out on his stomach. Eventually, EMTs arrived to bring him to a hospital ... he was later listed as being in critical but stable condition.

As for the militia, those who were dumb enough to stick around came face-to-face with members of actual law enforcement -- who proceeded to take several of them into custody.

Tear gas and flashbangs were used to contain the situation and to detain the armed men -- whom cops say were disarmed by the time they were done with them. It's unclear if police caught the actual shooter ... and the FBI's already been looped into the investigation.

Remember, protesters successfully dismantled several statues of Civil War figures and Christopher Columbus within the last 2 weeks. All of those incidents went down peacefully ... meaning, no one attempted to protect the statues.

Different story now ... at least in New Mexico.

A Wendy's employee was concerned Rayshard Brooks had drank too much because he was sleeping in his car, but also made it clear she didn't think he posed any danger.

TMZ's obtained audio of the 911 call that employee made, and she told the dispatcher she needed police to respond because Brooks is asleep at the wheel and partially blocking the drive-thru. She said she believed he was "intoxicated."

The woman said she tried to wake Brooks, and get him to pull off to the side ... but she couldn't get through to him.

The Wendy's employee described Rayshard's car, and when asked, told the operator he was black. When the operator asked if he had any weapons, the worker replied ... "No, no I think he's intoxicated."

As we reported ... Rayshard was cordial and cooperative with the 2 officers who arrived -- Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan -- for nearly 30 minutes ... based on Brosnan's bodycam footage.

However, after a failed field sobriety test, he resisted when Rolfe tried to slap the cuffs on him, a struggle ensued. When Rayshard took off running, Rolfe opened fire ... hitting him twice in the back.

Rolfe has since been fired, and Brosnan placed on administrative leave. Neither has been arrested or charged yet.

Seeing live footage of George Floyd's arrest alarmed a 911 dispatcher enough, she called a police supervisor to respond to the scene ... this according to newly released audio.

In phone recordings between the 911 dispatcher and a Minneapolis police supervisor, you hear the dispatcher openly question if the officers needed to use the kind of force she'd seen as she watched live body cam footage from the scene.

The dispatcher says to the supervisor, "You can call me a snitch if you want to but we have the cameras up ... I don't know if they had to use force or not, but they got something out of the back of the squad [car], and all of them sat on this man, so I don't know if they needed you or not, but they haven't said anything to me yet."

The supervisor responds, "Yeah, they haven't said anything yet ... just a takedown, which doesn't count, but I'll find out."

The dispatcher replies, "No problem, we don't get to ever see it so when we see it we're just like, well, that looks a little different, but …" and the conversation ends.

It's unclear if the police supervisor responded to the scene before Floyd was loaded into an ambulance. However, no supervisors were there when Floyd was being killed on camera.

As you know ... the fatal incident started with a 911 call about Floyd allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill, and escalated to accused-murderer Derek Chauvin pinning his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes as he slowly died in front of shocked bystanders recording footage.

Police are still on the hunt for the SoCal "Karen" who went on 2 racist tirades -- and it's possible she'll face charges when she's found ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... cops have been unable to locate the woman -- who's been identified as 56-year-old Lena Hernandez -- since she was involved in multiple verbal attacks last week.

We're told officers checked her most recently listed address but she was no longer living there, so they're hoping the public can help them track her down.

As we reported ... the woman's racist rants just outside L.A. triggered police reports for criminal threats by 2 different people.

Torrance PD later announced Hernandez has allegedly been involved in at least 3 racial incidents in which criminal reports were taken. During one incident in October, cops say she allegedly harassed a custodian and physically assaulted a Good Samaritan.

Our sources tell us all 3 alleged victims have asked that Hernandez be prosecuted. We're told her case has been kicked over to the City Attorney's Office to determine whether or not to file charges.

Rayshard Brooks' family members are talking about his killing in public for the first time since he was gunned down Friday night ... and we're streaming their remarks live.

The Brooks family is coming to the podium in Atlanta, where they'll discuss losing their loved one needlessly and senselessly at the hands of 2 police officers ... one of whom opened fire on Rayshard, shooting him twice in the back, as he attempted to flee arrest in a Wendy's parking lot.

In the body cam footage, you see Rayshard was cooperative with the officers after they found him sleeping in his car. He explained he'd just come from a relative's birthday party where he admitted to having a drink or two ... which led to field sobriety testing, and the cops attempting to arrest him.

Rayshard was begging the officers to let him go and allow him to walk home, which was no more than a few blocks away. The cops refused though, and insisted on taking him in.

As we reported, while wrestling with the officers, Rayshard took one of their tasers -- a non-lethal weapon -- and seemed to point it at them while running away. That's when the cop open fired 3 times. The autopsy results show he was struck twice in the back, and the medical examiner ruled it a homicide.

Atlanta's mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, decried the killing ... and accepted the resignation of the APD Chief of Police in response. One of the officers involved in the shooting, Garrett Rolfe, has been fired ... the other cop was placed on administrative leave.

The Atlanta PD has released body cam video showing the interaction between Rayshard Brooks and cops in a Wendy's parking lot moments before Brooks was shot and killed.

The conversation between Brooks and Officer Garrett Rolfe starts out cordial. Rolfe suspects Brooks had been drinking and driving, although when cops came on scene Brooks was not driving ... he had fallen asleep in his car.

Rolfe is trying to get Brooks to admit he had been drinking and driving, pressing him to take a field sobriety test. Brooks says he had a few drinks during his daughter's birthday party, but that was it.

Brooks makes it clear ... he doesn't want trouble and agreed to leave his car behind and walk home. Rolfe clearly views that comment as a confession Brooks is unable to drive.

Eventually, Brooks takes the test and the officer tries to handcuff him, and that's when a struggle ensues.

Again, Brooks was able to grab one of the officer's tasers and run, so the officers knew a man accused of a non-violent misdemeanor was running away from them with a NON-LETHAL weapon, yet Brooks was shot 3 times.

The family lawyer is indignant the cops waited more than 2 minutes to even check on Brooks once he was down.

Officer Garrett Rolfe was fired and Devin Brosnan, whose body cam footage it is, has been placed on administrative leave.

At least 2 L.A. drivers were NOT down to go around protesters marching for Black Lives Matter and Pride -- instead, they went right through them, hitting pedestrians.

Two different cars were seen driving through demonstrators Sunday. First up, some maniac in a BMW SUV on Hollywood Blvd ... who came in kinda hot and then slowed as he or she approached a crowd blocking the road. However, they refused to come to a complete stop, or even attempt to go around ... and rammed right through at least 2 marchers.

One victim was dragged along on top of the hood before getting thrown off, and another man was knocked down. The psycho sped off and got away, but it sounds like someone caught the license plate, and we're told police are searching for the driver.

Meanwhile, in WeHo ... there was another driver who didn't quite do the ramming that the Hollywood lunatic above got away with. But still, she crept through protesters blocking her path, and they let her know they weren't too pleased with her impeding.

Going viral is often a bad thing -- especially when it's for someone's singing to you about how "You about to lose yo job" -- but turns out it's been a potential cash cow for Julius Locklear.

We broke the story ... Julius is the security guard who got a melodic earful from the woman he was detaining outside a South Carolina strip club. Despite her awesome lyrics, Julius remained employed ... in security, and as a bail bondsman.

Now he tells us ... his situation's improving.

Locklear says he has job offerings pouring in thanks to the video, and tells us it's because prospective employers like the professionalism and restraint he displayed.

Julius says one offer is from an up-and-coming artist in Atlanta who reached out and asked if he's interested in being hired as his full-time bodyguard.

We're told another offer is from a big security company in Los Angeles. Locklear says they told him they saw him in the video and are looking for more honest, hardworking and dedicated personnel like him ... especially nowadays.

He says they're holding a position for him, and he's planning to head to L.A. for a meeting as soon as safely possible. Damn COVID.

A cop in Long Island appears to have purposefully blocked the path of a protester who was following him ... just so his buddies could pounce on the guy and arrest him.

The wild scene played out in East Meadow Saturday, where a bunch of protesters were being followed/escorted by local police ... at least some of whom were Nassau County officers, per reports. At one point, one of the protesters starts tagging alongside one of the cops up ahead, keeping in step with him momentarily ... and then attempting to pass him from behind.

The policeman notices this and abruptly stops in his tracks, so that the guy runs into him and makes slight, incidental contact. What happens next is insane ... a full-blown takedown.

It's crazy, 'cause you can see the officer almost signal to the others that he was touched  ... and the rest of them swarm in and rough the dude up as they detain him. You can see at least one officer has his knee on the guy too as his fellow protesters shriek in terror.

Some eyewitnesses say the officers had their knee on this man's neck -- although it's hard to say for certain from the angle of this video.

Now, Nassau County police officials have responded to this incident ... and they say the disorderly conduct arrest of this man and two others was necessary. They go on to say that this protester specifically was "moving across lanes of traffic," which is what spurred the arrest.

Their response might get even further scrutiny, however, because New York Attorney General, Letitia James, reportedly responded to the video on Twitter, saying she wanted it looked into.

Barbra Streisand just gave George Floyd's young daughter a gift that's worth its weight in gold -- especially long term -- in the form of stock to a behemoth of a company ... Disney.

6-year-old Gianna Floyd posted about the nice gesture on her personal IG account, saying ... "Thank You @barbrastreisand for my package, I am now a Disney Stockholder thanks to you 🥰🥰🥰." She also threw in a few photos of the official Disney stock certificate(s).

Now, it's unclear how many shares Barbra gave the kid -- but considering she's loaded and went out of her way to get this for Gigi ... something tells us she might've been generous.

Disney shares go for about $115 a pop right now -- and while the Mouse House has been put on ice in the wake of the pandemic ... Wall Street history shows that it's a fairly solid company to invest in over time, people usually make their money back with Mickey and co.

This kindness is just the latest amid an outpouring of love and support for Gianna and the rest of George's family. She's already been offered a full-ride scholarship to Texas Southern University in Houston -- and of course, we know Kanye has set up a college fund for her.

San Bernardino Police gunned down what's been described as a homeless man, who they say waved what might have been a handgun at them ... but it's not clear if he was actually armed.

The shooting occurred Saturday night at a gas station, where cops were responding to reports of a man brandishing a gun on the premises. When they showed up, cops say the guy was still carrying what appeared to them to be a firearm, and refused to put it down.

In bystander video, you can hear the officers giving the order ... and seconds later, they fire multiple rounds. The man was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. It's unclear what made the cops shoot, but SBPD released an image seemingly hinting at the reason.

They put up this photo, which they say shows the suspect pointing what was perceived as a possible weapon at the officers. Interestingly, though, SBPD has not yet confirmed if a gun was in fact found.

Witnesses on scene told the L.A. Times they'd seen the guy there earlier in the day rummaging through trash cans and panhandling. A cashier at the Circle K across the street says she believes the police mistook a flashlight he had as a gun, adding he was harmless.

Beyonce is shining a light on Breonna Taylor's case ... calling on Kentucky's top prosecutor to bring charges against the cops who killed her during a "no-knock" search warrant in March.

The pop star penned and posted an open letter on her site Sunday to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, highlighting the fact that while a new law has been passed in her name banning the use of no-knock warrants ... her family has still not received true justice.

She says it plainly, writing ... "Three months have passed -- and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired. The LMPD's investigation was turned over to your office, and yet all of the officers involved in the shooting remain employed by the LMPD."

Beyonce adds, "Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison must be held accountable for their actions." They're the ones who busted into her apartment -- believing it was being used to house drugs -- and opened fire upon her and her boyfriend inside ... unloading 20 rounds, eight of which struck and ultimately killed Breonna.

The three officers were put on administrative leave -- the case is still under investigation.

Bey ends her letter with a list of demands for AG Cameron, saying she and the community want to see criminal charges brought against the three men, transparency in the investigation and subsequent prosecution of them, and then calls for a separate investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department's handling of the case from the jump.

Beyonce caps it off with a heartfelt plea ... "Don't let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police, there are two real tragedies: the death itself, and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers."