PROVIDENCE Bobby Okereke Jersey , R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island town council has voted to ask its departments to refrain from purchasing Nike products, one of a handful of local governments or agencies that have called for boycotts in recent weeks.The North Smithfield Town Council passed the resolution on a 3-2 vote Monday evening, Council President John Beauregard said. The resolution is nonbinding.Beauregard, a former state trooper, is upset with Nike’s decision to use former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in an ad campaign. The town’s administrator didn’t know of any specific Nike products that municipal departments are currently using.The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said the town could be held legally and financially liable for violating the First Amendment and told members of the council: “Just don’t do it.”The mayor of a New Orleans suburb recently rescinded a similar directive based on an attorney’s advice.Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn, a Republican Khari Willis Jersey , had issued a memo saying that Nike products could not be purchased for use at city recreation facilities. It also required the parks and recreation director to approve all athletic purchases by booster clubs using the facilities. The order prompted a protest that included three members of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and hundreds of others.And Mississippi’s public safety chief said over the weekend that state police would no longer buy Nike products, saying that Nike doesn’t support law enforcement and the military. It wasn’t immediately clear how much gear the state police agency buys from Nike, though the department has bought shoes, shirts and tactical training uniforms from the company. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant lauded the decision.A Nike spokesman said Monday he couldn’t comment on the various governmental actions.Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and social injustice.Beauregard said he proposed taking a stance in North Smithfield because he feels Kaepernick has been disrespectful toward police. He said it’s not about kneeling during the anthem.In a statement released after the vote, the ACLU of Rhode Island described the resolution’s passage over the objects of residents who opposed it as “shameful.”“By attacking the right to peacefully protest and refusing to recognize the racial injustice prompting it, the resolution shows a disdain for both freedom and equality Josh Allen Jersey ,” the statement said. “Rhode Island is better than this.” Three of four former employees of truck stop chain Pilot Flying J who have been on trial since November were convicted Thursday in connection with a rebate scam.
Former company President Mark Hazelwood and former account representative Heather Jones were found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, news outlets reported.
Former company Vice President Scott ”Scooter” Wombold was convicted of one count of wire fraud. But he and former account representative Karen Mann were found not guilty of conspiracy.
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Pilot Flying J is controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. The Haslams haven’t been charged with any wrongdoing. The governor has not been involved in the company in recent years.
The verdict followed about four days of deliberations in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, where the trial has been going on since November.
Hazelwood was also convicted of wire fraud and witness tampering and found not guilty of one count of wire fraud. Wombold was also found not guilty of two counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements to federal agents. Jones was found not guilty of four counts of wire fraud.
Wombold’s lawyer, John Kelly, said his defense team would explore options for appeal on the one count on which Wombold was found guilty.
”All along, Mr. Wombold desired only to be judged by a jury of his peers at trial Jawaan Taylor Jersey ,” Kelly said in a statement. ”Today, having done exactly that, he stands vindicated on six of seven counts.”
Pilot Flying J issued a statement after the verdicts were announced saying it has focused on its customers.
”Nearly five years ago upon learning of the improper transactions, we made whole every customer negatively affected, entered into a Criminal Enforcement Agreement with the government, cooperated fully with the government’s investigation Josh Oliver Jersey , and made policy, procedure and staff changes to make certain nothing like this ever happens again,” the statement said.
Sentencing was set for June 27 in Chattanooga.
Fourteen former Pilot Flying J employees pleaded guilty earlier, and some testified during the trial. They are awaiting sentencing by U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier.
The jurors said in a note Wednesday they had reached a unanimous verdict on all but one charge involving one defendant. On Thursday morning, the jurors said in a note they remained deadlocked on that charge.
Collier then gave them an instruction designed to prompt jurors to re-examine their individual votes and try one more time for a unanimous decision.