The entire story centers around three key elements: empty cans, the proximity of said empty cans to an East Greenbush, N.Y., Wal-Mart and $2 in cash. That was all it took for 52-year-old Thomas Smith of Albany, N.Y., to lose his $9-an-hour job. Didn’t matter that he was formerly homeless and an ex-convict trying to…

Five people were shot late Monday near the Minneapolis police precinct where protesters have staged a sit-in demanding justice for Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old man who was killed by police, and authorities are searching for three white men believed to be involved in the shooting of the five.  Police are unclear what sparked Monday’s shooting,…

Donald Trump is having a pretty bad week earning the black vote. First a Black Lives Matter protester was beaten at a Trump rally in Birmingham, Ala., Saturday. When asked about the beating the man reportedly received, Trump told the Fox News Channel: “Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting…

At least 16 people were injured Sunday evening after a shooting in a crowded New Orleans park where hundreds had gathered to take part in a block party and music-video shoot. According to the Associated Press, police arrived to break up the large crowd at Bunny Friend Playground in the 9th Ward just moments before…

A Chicago judge has ordered police to release by Wednesday dash-cam video that reportedly shows the fatal October 2014 police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times, the Huffington Post reports. Laquan’s family say that they believe the teen was walking away when he was shot and that he may have been…

Police framed Donald Eugene Gates for the 1981 rape and murder of Catherine T. Schilling in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., and he was sentenced in 1982 to life in prison. In 2009, after Gates had spent 27 years behind bars for the crime, DNA evidence cleared him of the Georgetown University student’s death.…

Joseph Patterson will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson’s 2-year-old son. Patterson, 29, was convicted of second-degree murder in September and was sentenced Thursday to life in prison in South Dakota, the Associated Press reports. According to AP, an autopsy concluded that the…

Jamar Clark, the 24-year-old man who was shot by Minneapolis police after an altercation Sunday, was taken off life support Monday and has died, officials announced Tuesday, Reuters reports. Clark’s shooting sparked several protests in and around Minneapolis after witnesses and community activists said that Clark was in handcuffs when police shot him, a charge…

Attorneys for a mentally disabled South Carolina man have filed a lawsuit against his employers, claiming that the owner and a manager beat him, called him racial slurs and forced him to work long hours for little to no pay. According to the Post and Courier, two attorneys—Mullins McLeod and David Aylor—representing Christopher Smith claim…

Baseball legend Willie Mays will receive the nation’s highest civilian award—the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the White House announced in a statement Monday. The Hall of Fame center fielder, who spent the majority of his 22-year career with the New York and San Francisco Giants, is one of 17 honorees who will receive the award from…