Law Enforcement
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Minneapolis City Council Votes to Shift Almost $8 Million From the Police Budget as Part of ‘Safety for All’ Plan
The death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers has transformed the city into one of the epicenters of the current movement surrounding racial justice and police reform. In a notable step forward, the Minneapolis City Council has voted to shift millions of dollars away from the police budget. According to…
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Family Calls for Jason Meade, Cop Who Killed Casey Goodson Jr., to Lose His Badge
The family of Casey Goodson Jr., a 23-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy in Columbus, Ohio, last week, is now calling for the cop who fatally shot him to be removed from the force. Since Goodson was shot by Deputy Jason Meade, local authorities have justified the…
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Both the Officer and the Victim Have Been Indicted in a 2019 Police Shooting in San Francisco
On December 7, 2019, in San Francisco’s Mission District, a 24-year-old Black man was shot multiple times by two officers with the San Francisco Police Department. Jamaica Hampton—a burglary suspect whose leg was later amputated due to his injuries—allegedly attacked one of the officers with a liquor bottle before the shooting started, but his attorney…
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Aurora, Colorado Officials, Police Officers and Medics File Motions to Dismiss Elijah McClain Lawsuit
Attorneys for Aurora, Colo., police officers and medics involved in the death of Elijah McClain filed several motions with the U.S. District Court of Colorado last week to dismiss a lawsuit brought by McClain’s family in August. The lawsuit alleges that discriminatory practices are what caused officers to put a Black man in a chokehold…
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Tases Black Man Who Witnesses Say Flagged Officers Down for Help
It’s hard to imagine a situation where perfectly professional police officers responding to a reported car accident end up tasing one Black man and arresting another. That situation looks even more suspect when witnesses say the tased man was trying to flag the cops down to alert them to the accident, and the man arrested…
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Judge Finds Portland, Ore., Violated Order Restricting Police Use of ‘Less-Lethal’ Munitions Against Protesters
During the wave of anti-police-violence protests and civil unrest that took place over the summer, Portland, Ore. took center stage as one of three cities that saw so much chaos that the Department of Justice declared it an “anarchist jurisdiction.” But as activists, media outlets and even some officials have pointed out, protesters weren’t the…
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4 Paris Police Officers Charged in Recorded Beating of Black Man as France Moves to Make Recording Police Illegal
The Black Lives Matter movement may have started in the U.S., but anyone who thinks police brutality and systemic racism in policing are uniquely American phenomena need only look to France to dispel that notion. On Monday, four Paris police officers were charged with beating a Black music producer on Nov. 21. From the Washington…
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Officials Release Video Footage of Texas Officers' Violent Arrest of Black Teen Who Drove to Parents' House Instead of Pulling Over
For people who damn near use, “I was in fear for my life” as a catchphrase whenever they need to justify deadly use of force, cops don’t seem to understand that citizens—especially Black people—can be afraid and act out of fear, too. Earlier this month, 18-year-old Zekee Rayford was arrested in Schertz, Texas, after police…
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Seattle Honors Calls to Defund the Police…Kind Of
“Back the Blue” advocates would have you believe that the “defund the police” rallying cry is a call to end policing in America outright. While there certainly are those who wish to abolish the police, “defund the police” is a call to take some of the funding normally granted to police departments and allocate them…
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Former San Francisco Cop Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Black Man Charged With On-Duty Homicide, a First for the City, District Attorney Says
It’s incredibly sad to me that a cop being charged for on-duty homicide is a first in 2020, yet that’s exactly what happened in the case of a San Francisco cop who shot an unarmed Black man almost three years ago. According to CNN, the office of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin charged former…