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Missouri Woman Wanted in U.S. Capitol Riots Written by
DOYLE MURPHY
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ell, it was bound to happen: A Missourian has been charged in the U.S. Capitol riots. Emily Hernandez of Sullivan in Franklin County made a memorable cameo in January 6 footage of the extremists, snagging Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s broken nameplate and parading it around the Capitol like a trophy, according to the FBI’s account of her alleged actions, filed last week in federal court. Images submitted by tipsters show a woman identified as Hernandez holding the splintered wooden sign above her head. She is in the thick of the extremist mob. Over her right shoulder in the Capitol is a Virginia man wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt. If Hernandez was a popular figure among the insurrectionists, she apparently has a number of enemies. Acquaintances in real life and online were quick to give her up to the FBI. Three people contacted the feds, and “multiple anonymous tipsters” also provided info and images, according to court documents. Investigators matched up British ITV’s footage with Hernandez’s own Snapchat video from the Capitol, the
Emily Hernandez is facing federal charges. | JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EXHIBIT FBI says. A helpful frenemy also provided a photo of Hernandez wearing what appears to be the same distinctive winter hat in a Facebook pic. An ex-high school classmate also identified Hernandez and told the FBI that she was from Sullivan. From there, an investigator matched photos of the woman in the Capitol with Hernandez’s driver’s license picture. In a criminal complaint, she’s accused of breaking five laws, including disorderly conduct which impedes conduct of government business. She’s also charged with stealing, selling, conveying or disposing of U.S. property. As of press time she was not in custody. n
St. Louis schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams speaks during a January 12 meeting. | SCREENSHOT
St. Louis’ School District Waited for a Miracle. No One Came Written by
DANNY WICENTOWSKI
T That’s House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stolen name plate. | JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EXHIBIT
he largest mass closing of St. Louis public schools in more than a decade has arrived — and although public outcry in December led the St. Louis Board of Education to reduce its initial target from eleven to eight schools, the board members who reconvened to vote on January 12 did so under a cloud of a familiar disappointment. The school board meeting closed on a vote to shut down four elementary schools: Clay, Dunbar, Farragut and Ford. The district will also close Fanning Middle School, Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC
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and Northwest high schools. Carnahan will be converted into a middle school. The closures are controversial, though not as sweeping as the eleven-school proposal, revealed in December, that sparked immediate backlash: Parents showed up to protest at the district office, while hundreds left statements at a public hearing to plead for solutions that would keep the institutions open. The chorus was joined by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, which passed a unanimous (though non-binding) resolution opposing the plan to upend more than 2,000 district students and 200 staff. But now, one month later, the sound and fury appear to have signified almost nothing. Indeed, after the school board announced a “pause” in response to the backlash, board members said they hoped the extra time would bring new resources and political energy to the city’s longstanding education crisis: While St. Louis’ school system was built for a 1960s-era enrollment of more than 100,000 students, it now musters an enrollment of fewer than 20,000 students spread over 68 buildings. Some schools are unable to fill even half their classrooms. Simply put, St. Louis has too
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