She was accused of roughing up a flight attendant

It took a jury just a couple hours Thursday to kick a flight attendant to the curb who had accused the wife of mega-preacher Joel Osteen of assaulting her in a racist rant over a first-class seat. The case centered on Sharon Brown, an African-American attendant with Continental Airlines, who sued Victoria Osteen for $405,000, claiming that Osteen slammed her against a bathroom door, elbowed her in her breast and attempted to storm the cockpit during a December 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo. Brown’s claims were supported by another flight attendant, Maria Johnson, who is White. Johnson testified earlier in the week that she believes race was a factor because Victoria Osteen told her that she did not want to deal with Brown or the other African-American flight attendant during the trip. But the 12 jurors didn’t buy the story, perhaps agreeing more with Victoria Osteen’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, who characterized the charges as nothing more than a money-grab. “I’m glad it’s over,” Victoria Osteen said afterward. “I expected it because it’s the truth and I know the truth always stands firm.” Brown expressed disappointment. “We gave the truth to the jury,” she said. “We are happy we had an opportunity to try our case.” Victoria and Joel Osteen co-pastor the Lakewood Church in Houston, which draws 42,000 each week at a football stadium.

N.Y. cop caught bullying
A New York City cop had to give up his gun and his badge after getting caught on a videotape knocking a young man off his bicycle during a peaceful demonstration in Times Square. The video, which has been posted on YouTube, shows several cyclists – participating in the monthly Critical Mass ride – pedaling past police officers who stood in the street. The officer can be seen moving toward one cyclist, whom he body-checks with so much force that the man is sent crashing to the sidewalk. Perhaps the most incredible thing about the officer’s behavior is that the scores of people watching him wasn’t enough to deter his actions. The officer has been placed on desk duty until the incident has been investigated.

The Rev. C.A.W. Clark was pastor at the first Black mega-church in Dallas.
The Rev. C.A.W. Clark, a renowned Dallas minister – named by Ebony magazine as one of America’s 15 greatest African-American preachers of the 20th century, has died. He was 93. For more than a half-century, Caesar Arthur Walter Clark served as pastor of Dallas’ Good Street Baptist Church, which many consider the city’s first Black mega-church. “This is the passing of an era. We won’t see his likes again,” the Rev. Gerald Britt Jr., a vice president at Central Dallas Ministries, told The Dallas Morning News. “He was a master of the pulpit. He influenced generations of preachers.” Ordained in 1933, the Shreveport, La., native got his first assignment as pastor at Israelite Baptist Church in Longstreet, La. He was 19 at the time. He took over at Good Street in 1950. “Everybody who know anything about black Baptist life is familiar with C.A.W. Clark,” said Cleophus LaRue, author of The Heart of Black Preaching, in a 2006 interview with the Dallas newspaper. “He was regarded as one of the great black preachers in the 20th century.” He was 78 in 1993 when Ebony listed him among the 15 greatest Black preachers and “the most sought-after revival preacher there is.”