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The Tennessee cop who threatened a man who was shooting video of a police stop and then ripped the guy's face mask off has been fired.

Trooper Harvey Briggs got his walking papers Friday ... terminated for unprofessional conduct. He had been placed on leave 2 days earlier, after video surfaced of the confrontation.

Briggs, a 22-year veteran of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, went on a power trip, threatening Andrew Golden, approaching him and then ripping his mask off in a fit of anger, before walking off. Briggs seemed to be triggered after Golden used a swear word ... and that's not a reason to threaten to arrest someone or rip their mask off.

An 8-foot robot is getting a lot of attention online ... for the wrong reasons.

There's video of the contraption -- AKA Titan -- barreling through the International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi last year.

A number of stories have been surfacing that Titan is the bodyguard for the Emir of Bahrain. Not so ... Titan is just your typical hired muscle ... hired by anyone who wants a cool robot that reportedly delivers some pretty awesome movie quotes.

The anger and violence that has gripped America was full throttle Friday, when Trump supporters got into a huge fight with Black Lives Matters protesters.

The massive brawl went down in the San Fernando Valley, where Trump supporters were holding signs that read, "All Lives Matter" as they screamed, "America, America!"

It started out verbal, but quickly turned physical, as various people got pummeled on the ground.

The protest was organized by Latinos for Trump. They say they are supporting churches that were blocked by the government from having indoor services. There were around 60 Trump protesters, but they were clearly outnumbered by the BLM supporters.

The fight went down outside an In-n-Out drive-thru ... 4 people were injured.

A woman who just became an American citizen confronted a "Karen" outside the immigration office ... after she allegedly was shouting racist and xenophobic remarks at the new citizens.

This video comes from Hartford, CT, where a young woman named Ana, claims the older lady in the blue tunic had launched into a tirade as all the new U.S. citizens were leaving the immigration office.

Ana decided to call her out, and "Karen" responded by lunging toward the camera ... seemingly delivering some spittle in the midst of a pandemic.

She wasn't done -- after briefly walking away, she turned around and yelled right in the new U.S. citizen's face ... "I'm dealing with home invasion. Would you like to deal with home invasion?!"

A rideshare driver's lucky to be alive after surviving a drive-by shooting ... as he tried to drop off some late-night passengers ... and it was all caught on video.

The incident went down Wednesday around 1 AM in Louisville, Kentucky where Patrick Hemmerle was on his way to drop off some of his passengers when, out of nowhere, a Ford Fusion pulled up and opened fire.

Check out the video ... the footage comes from Patrick's own dash-cam which shows bullets, glass and shrapnel flying across his dashboard as he and his passengers desperately try taking cover. You also see the moment the Ford sedan pulled up ahead of Patrick's Toyota SUV and someone inside starts firing away.

Patrick, a local real estate agent who drives Uber and Lyft to make extra cash, told WDRB cops told him these guys have been driving around shooting at random people.

Tim Declercq took a POUNDING while riding in a major bike race in France on Thursday -- when a hail storm broke out and destroyed his entire back!

The 31-year-old Belgian pro cyclist was racing through Stage 2 of the Criterium du Dauphine in the Chartreuse Mountains when the hail began to fall ... hard.

People scrambled for shelter -- but Declercq couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and the ice balls smashed his back up ... leaving massive welts.

Other bikers were hit too. The whole scene was wild.

"As if le Dauphine was not painful enough for the legs," Declercq wrote on social media. Hey, at least he's got a sense of humor about it!

He later posted an update showing the bruising and redness were beginning to subside.

FYI, the Criterium du Dauphine usually serves as the Tour de France warm-up race.

The Tour usually takes place in July, but COVID-19 forced organizers to postpone.

That home where the buffalo roam ain't as tranquil as it sounds in the song ... just ask this woman who got dragged around like a rodeo clown!!!

The wild incident went down Wednesday at Custer State Park in South Dakota and you see the bison flinging this poor woman around like a rag doll ... with her belt hooked around one of the animal's horns.

The Custer County Sheriff says the victim, a 54-year-old woman from Iowa, was airlifted to a hospital ... but when it was all said and done, she avoided any serious, long term injuries.

Witnesses say the woman had gotten off her motorcycle and approached a bison calf when an adult bison came charging, catching her belt and jeans on its horn.

Authorities say the woman was apparently saved because her pants came off. She fell to the ground unconscious, and the bison ran off with the rest of the herd.

The case of Carole Baskin's disappeared husband, Don Lewis, is going the route of 'Don't F**k with Cats' -- with an online group claiming it's dug up a massive, and crappy, clue about where his body might be.

Jack Smith -- the spokesman now repping Don's family -- tells us he and a group of internet sleuths joined forces earlier this year after the premiere of 'Tiger King' and formed a Facebook group to search for the truth about Don's still-unsolved disappearance in 1997.

Welp, we're told the group believes it discovered a new lead, tied to an existing theory about Don -- namely, that he was allegedly buried on his and Carole's animal sanctuary property under a septic tank system.

According to Jack ... the research team has obtained the actual receipts and permit paperwork for the septic tank's installation. Carole has publicly acknowledged two septic tanks -- one that she claims was installed well before Don's disappearance, and another installed well afterward.

BUT, if you believe what Jack and co. claim these receipts show ... a septic tank system was, in fact, worked on and installed right around the time of Don's disappearance ... 23 years ago this month.

They claim the receipts show a permit to install the septic tank was pulled on August 4, 1997, and that work on such a system was completed by or before the 15th later that same month, with a mound of dirt delivered to Carole's address the day prior.

So, what does that all mean??? According to Don's family and this crack Facebook team of investigators, it points to the possibility that Carole wasn't truthful with her timeline ... and that Don may very well be under the ground, like Joe Exotic himself suggested in the docuseries.

We're told the group will turn this finding and others they claim to have over to the cops, in hopes of cracking the case wide open again.

We've reached out to Carole about the group's new findings ... so far, no word back.

A veteran police officer took quick action and risked her own life to save a man in a wheelchair from being run over by a train ... just in the nick of time.

The incredible rescue in Northern California was caught on the body cam of Lodi PD Officer Erika Urrea, who was patrolling the area Wednesday morning when she noticed the 66-year-old man was still on the railroad tracks as the crossing arms were coming down.

Urrea hopped out of her cruiser and ran to the man to move him away, but upon realizing his wheelchair was wedged in the tracks -- with a locomotive charging toward them -- she pulled the guy off and they both fell to the ground ... just as the train sped by and struck the wheelchair.

It all went down in a matter of seconds, and Urrea radioed for help after the save as the man suffered a leg injury. Police say he was transported to the hospital for treatment and is expected to survive.

Breonna Taylor's family had a momentous meeting this week with Kentucky's Attorney General, and for the first time since her death, Breonna's family is hopeful justice will be served.

The attorney who reps Breonna's family, Sam Aguiar, tells TMZ AG Daniel Cameron did not play his hand and say if he'll charge the cops in her death, but he showed a real interest in Breonna and her mom, Tamika Palmer, says they walked out of the meeting feeling good about the case.

We're told Cameron was well versed on the case and asked a lot of questions about Breonna. He wanted to know about her life and promised an open line of communication as the review process continues.

Cameron said during the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, he's waiting on the FBI's ballistic report. He believes the conclusions may unlock some of the mystery surrounding her death and will give him the information he needs to interview new witnesses and re-interview old ones.

Breonna's family has been met by radio silence for months, and their frustration grew to a fever pitch. Now, for the first time, Tamika feels optimistic Breonna's case is getting a fair review.

It's a far cry from the family's outrage after Cameron posted pics of his engagement party.

Disturbing scene in Maryland over the weekend ... some scumbags vandalized a high school football field with racist language -- and now, cops say they're on the hunt for the culprits.

The graffiti was sprayed near the 50-yard line at Calvert High School's football stadium in Prince Frederick, MD. ... with the several racist messages including, "F**k n*****s."

Community leaders said in a Facebook post a 15-year-old Black student discovered the vandalism early Sunday morning ... and believe it "may possibly be a response to a picture" of the school's football coach supporting the H.S.'s new Black principal.

Cops say they believe the vandalism was done sometime Saturday night ... with school officials adding other parts of the campus were also broken into and tagged as part of the same incident.

After the graffiti was cleared up, the school spelled out a different message on the field -- "No Hate Here."

"We are sad and angry that these racist messages occurred on school grounds," superintendent Dr. Daniel D. Curry said in a statement. "This racist language hurts the school system and the Calvert County community."

"Calvert County Public Schools promotes an anti-racist environment and denounces hate and discrimination."

Both cops and school officials say they have no leads on suspects at this time ... with a school spokesperson telling TMZ Sports there are no cameras that overlook the football field.

A maskless Tennessee State Trooper went on a major power trip, going face-to-face with a man not accused of any crime ... before allegedly tearing away the man's face covering.

Andrew Golden says this went down Monday near the Tennessee State Capitol building as he was recording state troopers who had pulled over a motorist. He says he kept a safe distance away on a public sidewalk before State Trooper Harvey Briggs -- who was not involved in the traffic stop -- threw a fit.

Check out the video ... Briggs, who again is NOT wearing a mask, warns Golden about cursing in front of him. Golden, who kept recording, asked Briggs "why his hand is on his gun" ... and the cop said, "Because that’s the way it always is."

Golden claims Briggs then stepped on his foot -- all without wearing a mask, mind you -- and then, suddenly, ripped Golden's mask off his face. He immediately called out Briggs for it ... and you hear Briggs deny it as he walked away saying, "I'm tired of you people making stuff up."

Tennessee's Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security tells us it's "in the process of reviewing the matter."

A hotel worker in Brazil earned office bragging rights when he not only warded off an insane attacking customer -- he sent the guy running off with his tail between his legs.

The incident reportedly went down in the city of Varginha, and allegedly started because the guest -- who WAS wearing a face mask -- refused to allow a COVID temperature scan as he checked in.

As you can see in the security footage ... the hotel employee's holding the scanner at the beginning, but sets it down before an argument erupts.

It looked like the customer was gonna walk out, but then he stormed back in and violently swung a chain holder at the worker ... then went behind the counter for some hand-to-hand combat. Big mistake!!!

The hotel worker immediately squared up to defend himself against the guest's punches and unloaded a series of blows himself. He even gets the guy to the ground and continues to pummel him, before the guest was able to retreat.

Viola Davis is coming full circle for her birthday by buying the house (and property) where she was born -- a place that was formerly inhabited by slaves.

The actress celebrated her 55th Tuesday by posting a photo of what she calls her birthplace -- an old rundown house on what's been said to be a former plantation in South Carolina. She said she not only snapped up the home, but the land surrounding it as well.

Viola captioned her pic with a moving tribute, writing ... "The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965. It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life....I own it....all of it." She's previously described the property -- saying it's about 160 acres all in all.

Viola followed up with a Cherokee birth blessing, "May you live long enough to know why you were born." In light of all the success she's found, it seems she's done that too.

A bit more history on the former plantation ... Viola described it in an interview back in 2016, and said her grandmother used to live there, and that her house -- presumably the one depicted here -- was a one-room shack, without a bathroom, running water or much else.

Despite sparse conditions ... she recalls her mother telling her that on the day she was born, a bunch of relatives packed in here to honor the occasion, and enjoyed themselves. Viola says she didn't live there long, but came back to visit over the years as she grew up.

Amazing visual of just how far Viola's come from her humble beginnings.

The parent of the 8-year-old kid who was arrested in Key West two years ago is now going after the school and the city, claiming the boy -- who already had serious psychological issues -- was all but destroyed by the incident.

Bianca Digennaro just filed a suit on behalf of her child -- who's only identified by his initials, HMM -- claiming her son was subjected to humiliation, embarrassment and psychological damage that manifested itself physically ... which she says could scar him permanently.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Digennaro says school officials should never have called the police, because school officials knew HMM had serious issues, including Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Adjustment Disorder and ADHD.

What happened to cause police to come did not justify trying to cuff the boy and arrest him. The mom says HMM refused to sit on a bench the way the teacher wanted. The teacher grabbed the boy and he implored her to take her hands off him. When she didn't, he punched her once in the chest. She was not injured, and HMM became remorseful and upset.

Nevertheless ... cops tried to scare the boy straight by telling him he was going to jail. The suit claims there was no justification for even calling the cops, since mental issues were the root cause of the problem, yet they still treated him like a criminal.

The kid's mother goes on to say that the psychological trauma of the incident caused her son to experience loss of breath, hives, stomach and head aches, nightmares, insomnia and inability to sleep alone in the aftermath of his run-in with cops. Her suit claims excessive force, ADA violations and failure to train officers properly.

Perfect antidote for a dad raging like a maniac at grocery store customers who ARE wearing masks -- his own son, who's strong enough to shut down his loudmouth parent!!!

Check out this older man going off inside a grocery store in Tucson, AZ ... spewing anti-mask rhetoric. Typical tirade we've seen lately -- you're all sheep, blah blah blah -- except this guy threw in some offensive machismo.

He drops the r-word repeatedly when describing the workers and shoppers, and even tries to fight at least one person before he had to be held back by a young buck who's said to be his son. It's pretty crazy -- usually this is how responsible parents handle a child throwing a tantrum.

Not only did his son hold him back, but he hoisted up his old man by the waist and carried him out the entrance like a 5-year-old having a meltdown -- with the chaos leaving a crate knocked over on the way out.