Latest / The Breakfast Club / Man Dies After Falling From Six Flags Coaster, Black Women Voters Fired Up for Midterms, and Diddy’s Release Date Pushed Back
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: A father and beloved Atlanta educator dies after falling from
- 0:08Speaker 1: a roller coaster at Six Flags. Now investigators are trying
- 0:12Speaker 1: to figure out how it happened.
- 0:14Speaker 2: And he turns sideways and he's flipping in the air.
- 0:17Speaker 2: He comes down, he slams down on our cart.
- 0:20Speaker 1: And Black women are sending a clear message ahead of
- 0:22Speaker 1: the midterm elections. They're unhappy with the direction of the country.
- 0:27Speaker 1: And Sean Diddy Combs may have to spend more time
- 0:29Speaker 1: behind bars while his prison sentence has been pushed back.
- 0:34Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, October 14th. From the Black Effect Podcast Network,
- 0:39Speaker 1: I'm Amy Brown. This is Front Page, and here are
- 0:42Speaker 1: the day's biggest stories. Stay with me. A family trip
- 0:49Speaker 1: to Six Flags over Georgia ended in tragedy after a
- 0:52Speaker 1: father fell to his death from one of the park's
- 0:55Speaker 1: biggest roller coasters. Police have identified the 42-year-old as a
- 0:59Speaker 1: beloved educator from the Atlanta area. It happened Monday afternoon
- 1:03Speaker 1: on Goliath. a roller coaster that stands 200 feet tall
- 1:07Speaker 1: and reaches speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.
- 1:11Speaker 1: According to Cobb County police, witnesses and park employees say
- 1:14Speaker 1: the man was thrown from the ride, struck other passengers,
- 1:17Speaker 1: and fell beneath the roller coaster.
- 1:20Speaker 2: A man slips out of his seat, And he turns sideways,
- 1:25Speaker 2: and he's flipping in the air. He comes down. He
- 1:28Speaker 2: slams down on our cart. What I knew was when
- 1:30Speaker 2: he initially hit back down and we felt his thud,
- 1:34Speaker 2: people reached out trying to grab him.
- 1:36Speaker 1: We couldn't.
- 1:37Speaker 2: We couldn't. There was too much force to grab him.
- 1:42Speaker 1: I looked over at her and I told her, I said,
- 1:44Speaker 1: something's going on.
- 1:45Speaker 2: I said, it keeps clicking. Yeah, it kept clicking like
- 1:48Speaker 2: it was unlocking and relocking. And they checked it multiple times,
- 1:51Speaker 2: which is really unusual.
- 1:54Speaker 1: When emergency crews reached him, he was unresponsive and not breathing.
- 1:58Speaker 1: Witnesses told Atlanta television that he appeared to be riding
- 2:01Speaker 1: with his son while his wife and daughter watched from
- 2:04Speaker 1: the ground. And now we're learning more about the man
- 2:07Speaker 1: who lost his life. He worked at Wesley International Academy.
- 2:11Speaker 1: and Atlanta Carter School. Atlanta public schools described him as
- 2:14Speaker 1: a cherished member of the school community and said his
- 2:17Speaker 1: impact on students and staff would be deeply missed. His
- 2:21Speaker 1: family described him as a passionate educator who loved his city.
- 2:25Speaker 1: But the big question today is how could someone fall
- 2:28Speaker 1: from a roller coaster? Police are still investigating and so
- 2:31Speaker 1: far they have not said whether there was a mechanical problem,
- 2:34Speaker 1: an issue with safety restraints, or something else. And the
- 2:37Speaker 1: company that manufactured the ride says it's investigating. And Six
- 2:42Speaker 1: Flags has temporarily shut down nine rides across its parks.
- 2:46Speaker 1: Goliath remains closed. The tragedy also raising broader concerns about
- 2:50Speaker 1: amusement park safety. Just two weeks ago, Six Flags in
- 2:54Speaker 1: Magic Mountain, California, permanently closed its X2 roller coaster after
- 2:59Speaker 1: an investigation showed serious injuries and deaths associated with that ride.
- 3:04Speaker 1: And on Wall Street, Six Flags dropped 14 points on Tuesday,
- 3:08Speaker 1: hitting the lowest level since 2009. For now, investigators are
- 3:12Speaker 1: trying to determine exactly what went wrong, and a family
- 3:16Speaker 1: that went to an amusement park for fun is now
- 3:18Speaker 1: grieving the loss of a husband and a father. And
- 3:26Speaker 1: Black women are frustrated about the direction of the country,
- 3:29Speaker 1: and a new poll shows they're ready to do something
- 3:31Speaker 1: about it. 92% of Black women surveyed said they're unhappy
- 3:36Speaker 1: where the country is headed, and 77% say they're motivated
- 3:39Speaker 1: to vote in the November 3rd midterm elections. The survey,
- 3:43Speaker 1: conducted by the Highland Project and Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies,
- 3:48Speaker 1: includes 700 Black women. Pollster's Cornell Bletcher says he hasn't
- 3:53Speaker 1: seen this level of enthusiasm since Barack Obama was running
- 3:56Speaker 1: for president. But there's a difference. Back then, Black women
- 4:00Speaker 1: were motivated by hope and change. Today, he says, they're
- 4:03Speaker 1: motivated by protecting their communities. Voting rights are a major concern.
- 4:08Speaker 1: Nearly 9 out of 10 women surveyed say changes to
- 4:11Speaker 1: voting rights have made them more determined to vote. And
- 4:14Speaker 1: money is also on their minds. From the rising cost
- 4:18Speaker 1: of living to job security and federal layoffs, 61% say
- 4:22Speaker 1: this year's midterm elections are more important than past elections.
- 4:26Speaker 1: And researchers say the frustration isn't just directed at Republicans.
- 4:31Speaker 1: Black women want accountability from both parties. Election Day is
- 4:35Speaker 1: November 3rd. And finally, Sean Diddy Combs may have to
- 4:44Speaker 1: spend more time behind bars. His projected prison release date
- 4:48Speaker 1: has been pushed back 41 days, from January 21st to
- 4:51Speaker 1: March 2nd, 2028. According to NBC News, Combs lost 41
- 4:57Speaker 1: days of good credit for bad behavior because of alleged
- 5:01Speaker 1: misconduct in prison. Now inmates can earn time off their
- 5:04Speaker 1: sentences by following prison rules, but if they break those rules,
- 5:08Speaker 1: they can lose that credit. NBC previously reported allegations that
- 5:12Speaker 1: Combs had access to contraband cell phone and alcohol and
- 5:16Speaker 1: paid other inmates to cook, clean, and give him massages.
- 5:20Speaker 1: But prison officials have not confirmed those allegations as the
- 5:23Speaker 1: reason for his punishment. His team says it hasn't received
- 5:27Speaker 1: an official explanation. And separately, TMZ reports Combs suffered a
- 5:31Speaker 1: head injury while in prison at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
- 5:35Speaker 1: He was reportedly taken for medical treatment and returned hours later.
- 5:38Speaker 1: Sources say the injury was not life-threatening. It's still unclear
- 5:42Speaker 1: how he was hurt. Combs is serving a 50-month sentence
- 5:47Speaker 1: after being convicted on two prostitution-related transportation charges. He was
- 5:52Speaker 1: acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He is appealing
- 5:56Speaker 1: his conviction. His new projected release date is March 2nd
- 6:01Speaker 1: of 2028. That's your front page. I'm Mimi Brown. This
- 6:07Speaker 1: podcast was brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network.