Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who faces a first-degree-murder charge in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, entered a not-guilty plea at his Tuesday-morning arraignment, the Chicago Tribune reports.  According to the report, it was the first time Van Dyke appeared before Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan, who is hearing the case. His…

Updated Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, 8:24 p.m. EST: Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, released the following statement shortly after the grand jury released its decision not to indict Officers Timothy Loehmann (who shot and killed Tamir) and Frank Garmback: My family and I are in pain and devastated by the non-indictment of officers…

To the mother of Amadou Diallo, it’s like pouring salt into a wound.  Officer Kenneth Boss, one of the four New York City police officers who shot her son to death back in 1999, recently got a promotion and a raise, nearly 17 years after the shooting that shook the Bronx. The 22-year-old Diallo, who…

A Mississippi mother is speaking out to ensure that other kids know they can speak up, after her 8-year-old was made to change out of her “Black Girls Rock!” shirt while at Popps Ferry Elementary School in Biloxi. According to WLOX, Sharika Jolly has long been hoping to instill some self-esteem in her daughter, Makiyah-Jae,…

There will be no criminal charges filed against the Chicago police officer who fatally shot Ronald Johnson III, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced Monday, the Chicago Tribune reports. Citing dash-cam footage, which Alvarez played at a news conference announcing her decision, along with a sample of 911 recordings, the state’s attorney called Police…

Ethan Couch, the wealthy Texas teen whose deadly drunk driving killed four people, may have landed himself back in trouble after a video surfaced allegedly showing the now-18-year-old laughing over a game of beer pong, WFAA reports. According to the report, Twitter user @BlondSpectre posted a video that the user claims depicts the teen, who…

Donald Trump’s adviser went on CNN’s New Day to defend his boss’s comments about a Black Lives Matter protester deserving to be roughed up at a recent Trump rally, Mediaite reports.  “The guy’s a professional agitator. Supposedly, rumors are out there on the Internet and social media, the guy has been tased, what, 30 times?…

The white Chicago police officer who shot a black teen 16 times in a fatal encounter that was caught on video has been charged with first-degree murder, multiple sources report. According to Reuters, local newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times, are both reporting that murder charges were filed Tuesday against Officer Jason Van Dyke,…

Attorneys representing 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, the boy who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to his Dallas-area school, have sent letters to the school district and the city in which it’s located, indicating that Ahmed was publicly mistreated and demanding $15 million in damages, the Associated Press reports.  A law firm representing the boy,…