Police chief slams body cam advocates for ‘politicizing’ shooting

Good evening from the BDN Portland office on Congress Street. Tonight the police chief gets political; a story that would make most humans cry; and for crying out loud, please let the NBA trade deadline be over so I can stop obsessing over every Isaiah Thomas tweet.

What we’re talking about

Portland police chief ‘disgusted’ by calls to speed up body cam program after shootingIn his first public statements since a Portland police officer fatally shot a man on Saturday, Police Chief Michael Sauschuck lashed out at body camera proponents — including Mayor Ethan Strimling — for “politicizing” a 22-year-old man’s death to push police into fast-tracking the technology.

What happens when a cop shoots someone — If history is any guide, Maine’s attorney general will declare the fatal shootings of three Mainers in the past two weeks by law enforcement officers as legally justified.

Document: Here’s a list of all police-involved shootings in Maine over the last decade

Cancer took her breasts away. This tattoo artist helped her accept it. — Troy R. Bennett has has your must-watch video of the day. Troy profiled Andrea Caron during her cancer battle in 2014. This month, she let him tell the next chapter of her story, as a tattoo artist covered her reconstructed breasts with permanent art.

After Troy’s first piece on Andrea — where she got henna on her then-bare head during chemotherapy — this is how he felt:

I never knew what happened to Andrea. Truthfully, I was too petrified to ask. She and Mary helped me tell an honest story of hope and beauty. It was my proudest, most emotional work and I was afraid the truth might ruin it all.

I should have had more faith in science and art.

When mimes attack — (Kind of sounds like a Troy McClure movie, right?)

A “mime” in Brunswick is accused of picking the worst possible person to assault: A professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter. Here’s your quote of the day:

“He said he got jumped on his way to his car by someone with white face paint who looked like a homeless mime.” — John Raio, owner of First Class Fitness and MMA in Fort Andross.

Read Beth Brogan’s story HERE.

NBC Nightly News finally catches up with us — Following up on a story we published in January, Kevin Tibbles profiles Portland High School’s deaf mascot performer, Kamron King. We still think our story is better. Watch it here. — Troy R. Bennett

Collins says her office is swamped by phone calls — From NECN: “Sen. Susan Collins of Maine visited with progressive group Mainers For Accountable Leadership on Tuesday in a livestreamed meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, Collins mentioned that her offices recently fielded thousands of calls on a variety of issues and it was difficult for her staff to keep up with the volume.”

Tweet of the day

From Ted Gioia:

Screenshot 2017-02-21 18.08.49

 

The Big Idea

‘Why facts don’t change our minds’— Elizabeth Kolbert writes in The New Yorker:

As everyone who’s followed the research — or even occasionally picked up a copy of Psychology Today — knows, any graduate student with a clipboard can demonstrate that reasonable-seeming people are often totally irrational. Rarely has this insight seemed more relevant than it does right now. Still, an essential puzzle remains: How did we come to be this way?


Got any interesting story ideas, suggestions or links to share? Email Dan MacLeod at dmacleod@bangordailynews.com, or tweet @dsmacleod.

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Dan MacLeod

About Dan MacLeod

Dan MacLeod is the managing editor of the Bangor Daily News. He's an Orland native who moved to Portland in 2002 and now lives in Unity. He's been a journalist since 2008, and previously worked for the New York Post and the Brooklyn Paper.