National briefs 10/14/15

Officer accused of spitting on man

BALTIMORE -- A Baltimore police veteran's police powers were suspended Tuesday, and criminal and internal investigations are underway after a video may have shown the officer spitting on a man he arrested. The police powers of Sgt. Robert Mesner, a 34-year veteran, were suspended after a video surfaced of an arrest Monday night in northeast Baltimore in which an onlooker said the officer spat on the man. Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said Tuesday the video shows the officer's body and head move forward in a way that indicates he may have spat on the man under arrest, handcuffed and on the ground. The man was charged with disorderly conduct. Davis stated: "The video appears to depict the police sergeant spitting on the arrestee. That is outrageously unacceptable, and it directly contradicts the necessary community relationships we are striving to rehabilitate." Davis said police want to talk with anyone who was present, and investigators would like to see any additional video.

Court reinstates suit over Muslim spying

PHILADELPHIA -- A federal appeals court Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department's surveillance of Muslim groups in New Jersey after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying any resulting harm came from the city's tactics, not the media's reporting of them. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing a judge's decision last year to dismiss the case, found the Muslim plaintiffs raised sufficient allegations of religious-freedom and equal-protection violations and put the case on track for trial. The court compared the spying to other instances of scrutiny of religious and ethnic groups, including Japanese-Americans during World War II. In dismissing the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge William Martini had concluded the police could not keep watch "on Muslim terrorist activities without monitoring the Muslim community itself" and concurred with the city in blaming reporting by The Associated Press, which exposed the surveillance program, for any harm. The appeals court said the attempt to blame the AP was akin to saying, "What you don't know can't hurt you. And, if you do know, don't shoot us. Shoot the messenger." The lawsuit revived Tuesday was among actions that followed reports that revealed how city police infiltrated Muslim student groups, put informants in mosques and spied on Muslims as part of an effort to prevent terrorist attacks.

Trump to host 'Saturday Night Live'

NEW YORK -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has agreed to host "Saturday Night Live" next month. NBC said its former "Celebrity Apprentice" host will be the headliner of the Nov. 7 show. It's the second time he has hosted; he was on the show in April 2004. Trump has been ratings gold for nearly every television outlet he's touched since his candidacy, including record viewership for the two GOP debates in August and September.

-- From wire reports