1. FIVE RAPPERS REMOVED FROM NEW YORK FESTIVAL AT REQUEST OF POLICE: Five New York-based rappers were dropped from traveling hip-hop festival Rolling Loud on Saturday at the request of the New York Police Department. The department said the performers were associated with acts of violence in the city in a letter to festival organizers last week. The performers were slated to join headliners including Travis Scott, Meek Mill, and Wu-Tang Clan at Citi Field in Queens. The New York Times: “The move came after Martin Morales, an assistant chief at the Police Department, sent the festival organizers a letter on Wednesday requesting the removal of five artists—22Gz, Casanova, Pop Smoke, Sheff G, and Don Q—citing safety concerns. ... Rolling Loud confirmed receipt of the letter and said that the artists had been taken off the lineup. The festival declined to comment further.”
2. NEW ORLEANS HARD ROCK HOTEL CONSTRUCTION COLLAPSE LEAVES ONE DEAD AND ONE MISSING: The construction site for a Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans partially collapsed on Saturday, leaving one person dead and one missing. The missing person is believed to be in a section of the site that is unstable. The New Orleans Fire Department have made numerous entries into the building to find the missing person. WDSU: “A total of three engineers have been called in to assist. Two are on the scene, and one engineer from Europe was expected to land in New Orleans on Sunday night. … Fire Chief Tim McConnell said 112 people were working inside the building when the 18-story structure began to crumble. Officials said 30 people in total were hurt. Some were taken by emergency medical services to an area hospital, while others went on their own.”
3. POLITICAL FIGURES AND PRESS ORGANIZATIONS CONDEMN GRAPHIC VIDEO SHOWN AT PRO-TRUMP EVENT: Press organizations and political figures condemned a fake video shown at a pro-Trump event at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami, which depicted Trump’s likeness brutally murdering journalists and political figures. The video, titled “Church of Fake News,” was originally created by a meme-maker in 2018; it was screened at the American Priority Festival and Conference. Washington Post: “Alex Phillips, organizer of the American Priority Festival and Conference, told the Times that the video was played at one point during the three-day event that began Thursday as part of a ‘meme exhibit.’ The violent parody was included in a meme compilation that also featured Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign logo, according to the Times. ‘It has come to our attention that an unauthorized video was shown in a side room at #AMPFest19,’ a statement posted to the conference’s website said. ‘This video was not approved, seen, or sanctioned by the #AMPFest19 organizers.’”