Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Now that the Republican Party appears to be finally coalescing around the idea that Mitt Romney is the likely GOP presidential nominee, the conversation has shifted towards who the former Massachusetts governor should select as his running mate.

In a recent interview, one of Romney’s former opponents suggested he look to Florida for his choice.

Hermain Cain says he believes Rep. Allen West (R.-FL) is an “excellent choice” for vice president.

Although African Americans make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population, we account for 33 percent of the missing in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s database.

Police were called to the scene of a shooting at the intersection of Koth and Baker streets on Jan. 8, 2011. Police did not find anyone at the scene but later received a call from Williams’ family saying that he had been shot in the leg and was missing.

Police searched the nearby woods and a subdivision using a helicopter and infrared camera. The search later expanded to the entire county.

After investigating, police issued a warrant for the arrest of Emmanuel Bruckner who was charged with attempted murder for the shooting of Chris Chapman.

Police believe Williams may have been the second victim of that shooting. Chapman turned himself in to authorities. However, Williams remains missing more than a year after the incident.

PASADENA, Calif. — Pasadena’s police chief is inviting the FBI to investigate the death of a college student who was shot and killed by officers last month.

Chief Phillip Sanchez says the FBI would add another independent review to the investigation of 19-year-old Kendrec McDade’s March 24 death.

Sanchez’s invitation comes days after McDade’s parents sued police, saying his death was part of a pattern of Pasadena police killing black people.

Officers say a 911 caller led them to believe McDade was an armed robbery suspect when they opened fire. He was unarmed.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says the federal law enforcement agency is investigating to determine whether a violation of federal civil rights was a factor.

Eimiller says the FBI routinely assesses incidents where questions of civil rights violations are raised.

Inglewood, Calif. – A 28-year-old father died this week protecting his 8-year-old son from gunfire. Along with a friend, the father and son were cleaning up the family’s garage Tuesday night when two men walked up to them and began firing.

The father, Fredrick Martin, used his body as a shield to protect his son from the bullets, but Martin was struck in the abdomen and upper torso. A bullet grazed his son, Tre’s leg, but he was unharmed.

Martin, or ‘Freddy Mac,’ as he’s known to his friends and family, later died at the hospital.

“He’s not gang affiliated, never has been. He graduated from Texas Southern University,” Martin’s grandmother, Darley Tankey said.

Joey Hickman, Martin’s best friend and godfather to his son, was shot in the ankle. Hickman had his back turned to the gunmen when they first approached the garage.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A military board has recommended dismissal for a Marine sergeant who criticized President Barack Obama on his Facebook page, including allegedly putting the president’s face on a “Jackass” movie poster.

The Marine Corps administrative board said after a daylong hearing late Thursday at Camp Pendleton that Sgt. Gary Stein has committed misconduct and should be dismissed.

The board also recommended that Stein be given an other-than-honorable discharge. That would mean Stein would lose his benefits and would not be allowed on any military base.

The board’s recommendations go to a general who will either accept or deny them. If the general disagrees with the board, the case could go to the secretary of the Navy.

Stein’s lawyers argued that the 9-year Marine, whose service was to end in four months, was expressing his personal views and exercising his First Amendment rights.

DETROIT — Five men have been charged in the abduction and slayings of two Michigan women who were kidnapped and stuffed in a car trunk at gunpoint, a prosecutor said Saturday.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charges during a morning news conference.

The men are being charged in the deaths of friends and roommates Abreeya Brown, 18, and Ashley Conaway, 22, who were abducted on Feb. 28. Their bodies were discovered March 25 in shallow graves in a wooded area on Detroit’s west side, not far from their home in Hamtramck. The women had been bound and shot in the head.

Brandon Cain, 26, Miguel Rodriguez, 24, Reginald Brown, 24, Jeremy Brown, 19, and Brian Lee, 25, all of Detroit, are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of torture and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.

Authorities said Conaway may have been targeted for telling police that Lee and Cain shot at her nearly three weeks before the abduction.

The two men face attempted murder charges in that case in Wayne County Circuit Court, where they are accused of shooting at Abreeya Brown and Conaway’s car on Feb. 8. Witnesses have said Cain had been romantically pursuing Conaway.

Worthy said the case serves as a reminder about the importance of witness protection.

Students from Bethune-Cookman University among other colleges in Florida have embarked on a three-day, 41-mile journey from Daytona Beach to Sanford, Fla. to protest what they perceive as the improper handling of the Trayvon Martin case by Sanford authorities.

Organized under an umbrella organization called The Dream Defenders, the students organized the march to pay respectful homage to the historic event in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a contingent of civil rights activists on a journey from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

The Dream Defenders coordinated the three-day protest via Facebook and Twitter. Their logo features an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wearing a hoodie. The group began assembling at Daisy Stocking Park on Third Street in Daytona Beach about noon Friday.

March coordinator Gabriel Pendas, who is an alumnus of Florida State University, said  that the marchers will rest at churches during the night. The march ended on April 8 at about 7 p.m., where students convened at the Allen Chapel AME Church.

The death of Trayvon Martin has sparked a fury in most corners of Black America and each detail is read eagerly by many people who are fiercely advocating for George Zimmerman, 28, the White-Hispanic neighborhood watchman who shot him in the chest at point-blank range, to be tried for his murder.

White America is saying not so fast.

According to a new Gallup/USA Today poll, 51 percent of Black people said Zimmerman is “definitely guilty,” while only 10 percent of White people believe he’s guilty. Approximately 20 percent of both Whites and Blacks believe that Zimmerman is “probably guilty.”

The strict racial lines in the sand are apparent in other areas of the poll as well.

73 percent of Black people believe that Zimmerman would have been arrested if Trayvon had been White. Interestingly enough, only 33 percent of non-Hispanic White people believe that race plays a part in how the gunman is being treated.

McDonald’s Corp.’s Chief Executive Jim Skinner is retiring, handing the challenge of sustaining one of the restaurant industry’s strongest runs to the company’s president, Don Thompson.

The 67-year-old Skinner, CEO since 2004, will step down June 30, after 41 years at the fast-food giant, McDonald’s said in a statement.

When Skinner retired, the 48-year-old Thompson, who is also McDonald’s operating chief, has long been at the top of the list of candidates to succeed him. He became the chain’s first Black CEO.

A 22-year veteran of McDonald’s, Thompson helped spearheaded some major initiatives at the burger giant, including the company’s national rollout of specialty coffee drinks. He has helped guide McDonalds’s through the economic downturn, making it one of the most successful restaurant chains in recent years.