Good afternoon, this is Brooke Howard with The Daily Beast. It's Friday, May 7th, and these are the top stories the Chi Chi team is watching right now. A federal grand jury on Friday indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers who were involved in George Floyd's death. The grand jury found that the officers violated Floyd's civil rights during the fatal May 2020 arrest.
The indictment comes just weeks after Derek Chauvin, the officer who held his knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The federal grand jury has also indicted former officers J. Alexander Kang, Thomas Lane, and Totao, all of whom are facing separate charges for aiding and abetting Chauvin. As India hits a daily record of more than 400,000 COVID cases and a severe shortage in oxygen, medical supplies, and hospital beds, scammers are coming up with new and elaborate ways to exploit desperate families trying to save loved ones.
The latest pandemic scheme appears to be passing fire extinguishers off as oxygen tanks. On Thursday, local media outlets reported that Delhi police arrested three people for painting fire extinguishers and selling them as oxygen cylinders to family members of infected citizens. Police reportedly seized more than 530 extinguishers that have been dismantled, spray-painted, and sold as gas cylinders. The suspects reportedly obtained expired and empty fire extinguishers, recast them, and sold them for about $180 each.
The fake oxygen tanks are not the only scams running amok. Hospital beds have been sold on the black market, counterfeit medicines have been manufactured and delivered to people looking for aid on social media, and other scammers have posted doctors online, promising to deliver supplies only to block their victims after receiving cashback payments. Police are warning users of the Grindr dating app to be vigilant after at least eight people were reportedly robbed during her states. Atlanta's police department sergeant said during a news conference Wednesday, quote, The person typically has a handgun, they're on a normal date, and after the date concludes, they'll just rob the person of their belongings.
Cops said one victim was carjacked in April, after meeting with someone he had matched with on Grindr. Investigators are looking for two suspects, and said there could be others involved. What happened to the idea that no one is above the law? The Federal Election Commission has abruptly ended its investigation into Donald Trump's alleged hush-noney payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump before he was a presidential candidate.
The decision to drop the case has been criticized by Democratic campaign commissioners and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who told the New York Times, quote, Like me, Trump should have been found guilty. Today Trump has faced no legal punishment for the payments. I don't understand why this keeps happening. A fifth-rate class in North Dakota was supposedly made to reenact the murder of George Floyd.
The project was reportedly organized by the class's tone-deaf teacher, who has been placed on leave. The school district did not provide any other details in his statement, but did say that the teacher will remain on leave, quote, until an investigation is complete. Reportedly, no student was tangled out because of the color of their skin, and no child was physically harmed in the reenactment of the homicide. Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the biggest cruise companies in the world, wants to completely avoid docking in Florida due to Governor Ron DeSantis' law banning the use of COVID-19 passports in the state.
Earlier this month, DeSantis signed an executive order that prevents vaccine passports from being issued in the state and also blocks businesses from asking for proof of vaccination status before customers enter their premises. Thing is, that's a problem for cruise lines, which have been told that they can only operate in U.S. waters if 95% of passengers have been vaccinated. Norwegian CEO reportedly said Thursday, quote, If we can't operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from.
This is actually quite ironic considering DeSantis has blamed the federal government for Florida's financial loss in the cruise industry. That's all for this week. Check back every week in the morning and afternoon for more than you should need to know. Find us wherever you listen to the podcast.