TikTok School Violence Threats Disrupt Class, But Fail To Unfold

ACROSS AMERICA — Good morning! It’s Saturday, Dec. 18. As the holidays approach, joy is waning as COVID-19 infections soar and the omicron variant triggers new restrictions on travel. This year's holiday season was supposed to be a do-over for last year's subdued celebrations, but now it’s looking a lot like history may repeat.

Here’s a look at the headlines we’re following today:

• Former police officer Kim Potter testified in her own defense in her manslaughter trial.
• The family of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is trying a new approach to advocate for voting rights reform.
• You can find everything at Target — even live snakes in the restroom.
• During last week’s deadly tornadoes, an Amazon dispatcher reportedly told a driver to “just keep driving.”

Schools across the country added more security and local police departments beefed up patrols Friday in response to rumors of vague threats on the social media platform TikTok about school shootings and other violence.

None of the rumored threats had materialized as of Friday evening, and school officials across the country lamented the disruption it had caused. Many U.S. schools took the precautionary step of canceling classes Friday, which the social media posts called a "national school shooting day."

School districts in multiple states had notified parents Thursday of posts circulating on TikTok, saying they had no information to suggest the rumors of threats were credible, and that their intent was to inform and not alarm.

TikTok said in a statement on Twitter that it is working with law enforcement to investigate the posts. » TikTok School Shooting, Bombing Threats Put Schools On Alert, via Across America Patch

‘Sorry It Happened’: Kim Potter

Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter gave emotional testimony in her manslaughter case Friday over the shooting death of Daunte Wright, at one point crying out that she was "sorry it happened" as she was being questioned by the state.

Potter faces first- and second-degree manslaughter charges in the fatal April 11 shooting of 20-year-old Wright during a traffic stop.

"We were trying to keep him from driving away. It just went chaotic," a crying Potter told her defense attorney while on the stand. "I remember yelling, 'Taser Taser Taser' and nothing happened, and then he told me I shot him." »'Sorry It Happened': Ex-Officer Kim Potter Breaks Down In Court, via Southwest Minneapolis Patch

No Voting Reform, No MLK Jr. Day

The family of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. wants to send a clear message to President Joe Biden and members of the Senate: Restore and expand voting rights in honor of King's legacy or skip 2022's celebration of his namesake holiday. "Voting is an essential part of our democracy's infrastructure," Arndrea Waters King said in a statement, "and we cannot afford for it to crumble any further." » No MLK Jr. Day Without Action On Voting Rights, King Family Says, via Across America Patch

The Week In Photos

Many people felt Mother Nature's fury this week as unusual weather swept through several U.S. states, bringing strong storms, hurricane-force winds and tornadoes to many parts of the country. Also, President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor; Kim Potter took the stand; and SantaCon returned to New York City. »The Week in Photos: SantaCon, Nature's Fury, New Omicron Fears, via Across America Patch

More national headlines on Patch, other news websites:

• Pfizer Tests Extra COVID Shot For Kids Under 5 In Setback
  
• Tornado, Storm Death Toll At 90 After Kentucky Teen's Body Found
• NBC's Peacock TV Streams Documentary On Gabby Petito Case Friday
• Sears Selling Headquarters In Illinois: Report
• 'Just Keep Driving,' Amazon Told Driver During Deadly Tornadoes
• Claudette Colvin, ‘The Other Rosa Parks,’ Gets Record Expunged
• Power Of One: Joe Manchin Is Singularly Halting Biden's Agenda
• COVID-19 Fears Dash Hopes For The Holiday Season — Again
• Jonas Brothers Promote Vaccines With Biden, via The Hill
• Southwest Airlines CEO Tests Positive For COVID-19, via Politico
• NFL Reschedules Three Games Out Of COVID Concerns, via The Washington Post

Around ‘The Patch’

One lucky waitress in Virginia received a $1,900 tip this week after 19 strangers each left a $100 tip. “You made my Christmas,” the waitress told her customers, via Ashburn Patch

It's unclear if they were doing some holiday shopping or simultaneously felt the need to answer nature's call, but six Dekay's Brownsnakes recently were discovered in the wall of a Pittsburgh Target restroom, via Pittsburgh Patch

More local news:

• Virginia Shopping Cart Killer: 4 Victims Found, More Suspected, via Greater Alexandria Patch
• Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner Tests Positive For COVID-19, via Houston Patch
• Police: Estranged Husband Kills Wife, Torches Franklin Home, via Wrentham Patch
• Charges Filed Against South FL Man Who Assaulted Officer During U.S. Capitol Breach: DOJ, via Miami Patch
• Wayward Zebras Finally Find Their Way Back Home In One Maryland County, via Bowie Patch
• Newsom Unveils Proposal To Crack Down On Crime In California, via Dublin Patch
• Woolsey Fire: So Cal Edison To Pay $550 Million Settlement, via Malibu Patch

House Hunting

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This Day In History

On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed slavery, officially entered into force after ratification by states.

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