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Andrew DeMillo/Associated Press

  • An Arkansas law enforcement officer who held down a man while two others beat him during an arrest recorded on video is back on the job after he did not face any criminal charges. Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory confirms that Officer Thell Riddle was reinstated and returned to work Friday. A bystander used a cellphone to record the South Carolina man and two former Crawford County sheriff's deputies during the Aug. 21 arrest of Randal Worcester in the small town of Mulberry. The two deputies face federal charges and remain under investigation by the state. But a grand jury declined to indict Riddle and the state says it won't be charging him.
  • A federal grand jury has charged two law enforcement officers with civil rights violations in the violent arrest of a GooseCreek, SC, man outside a convenience store that was caught on video and widely shared on social media. Prosecutors announced the charges on Tuesday against two former Crawford County sheriff's deputies in the Aug. 21 arrest in the small town of Mulberry. The video showed two of the officers beating the man while a third held him on the ground.
  • Federal authorities say they have started a civil rights investigation following the suspension of three Arkansas law enforcement officers after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a man while a third officer held him on the ground. A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said Monday that the federal investigation would be separate from the Arkansas State Police investigation of the arrest. Authorities said the officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma.
  • The attorneys general of 26 states have filed federal lawsuits challenging a vaccine mandate for employers issued by the Biden administration. They generally contend that the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government. The new mandate applies to private employers with at least 100 workers. The Biden administration says it is confident its requirement will withstand the challenges, but legal experts are divided over which side is likely to prevail. Several businesses also joined the lawsuits filed Friday, saying they don't want to insert themselves into their employees' health care decisions.
  • Republican governors, lawmakers and attorneys general are forming a wall of opposition to President Joe Biden's plan to require vaccinations or COVID-19 testing at all private employers of 100 workers or more. They have adopted laws to exempt employers in their state, filed lawsuits and in some cases are ensuring that workers who are fired for refusing a vaccine will have access to unemployment insurance. They question the constitutionality of the federal regulation, saying the federal workplace safety agency does not have the power to impose vaccine mandates. The Biden administration says it does.