Law Enforcement
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'A Grave Threat to Public Safety': John Legend Calls Out Chicago Police Union in Op-Ed
As the city of Chicago lurches forward with its lawsuit against actor Jussie Smollett, John Legend penned a blistering op-ed last week, taking aim at Chicago’s powerful police union. Writing for the Chicago Tribune, the singer accused the Fraternal Order of Police of posing “a grave threat” to Chicago’s safety by obstructing efforts to instill…
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Watch: Grown Ass Cop Pepper Spray, Beat and Arrest Black Teen for Allegedly Taking a Defensive Stance
Thank god for cellphones. Not that they seem to matter much in the courts or even in the court of public opinion, but when history looks back on this videoed generation of state-sanctioned violence against minorities, at least all of it will be documented. On Thursday, a little before 3 p.m., a bunch of teens…
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New Video Shows Student's Account of What Chicago Police Did to Her Was Exactly as Bad as She Said
You can believe Chicago police, stalwarts of truth and integrity, or you can believe surveillance footage. But in yet another incident involving a young black person, you cannot believe both. This time, surveillance video released last week from a Chicago high school contradicts earlier CPD statements that they were provoked to punch and use a…
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Police in Texas Investigating After Off-Duty Cop Tackles Young Woman to Ground in Altercation at Apartment Complex
A group of young women in Nacogdoches, Texas, say they’re on a mission to clear their friend’s name after they say an off-duty police officer doing security at an apartment complex used excessive force in arresting her and another one of their group. Tanjuniqua Brown and DreAuna Williams tell KTRE that they and a group…
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Woman Violently Arrested After Calling Miami-Dade Police for Help Files Civil Rights Lawsuit
Dyma Loving, a young mother of three who was violently arrested by Miami-Dade officers last month after she called the police for help, will be filing a federal civil rights complaint Wednesday against the county. The announcement was made by Loving’s attorney, Justin Moore, who sent a press release to The Root on Wednesday morning.…
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St. Louis Police Request Permission to Use Mace, Tear Gas on Non-Violent Protesters
In September of 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued the city of St. Louis and its police force after officers responded to peaceful demonstrations with excessive force. In what has come to be known as the “kettle,” more than 100 victims were arrested and testified that they were surrounded, beaten, pepper-sprayed and…
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All in Their Feelings: Chicago Suburban (Read:White) Cops Call for Kim Foxx's Resignation Over Jussie Smollett Case
And the piling on when it comes to Chicago’s chief prosecutor, Kim Foxx, continues. Now, a group of suburban Chicago police chiefs have joined the call of Chicago’s police union in demanding Foxx’s resignation over her office’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case. After Smollett’s claims of having been the victim of a racist, homophobic…
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Lawyering While Black: Cop Detains Attorney in Courthouse, Accuses Him of Impersonating a Lawyer
It’s a shame there isn’t a tag for stories on The Root called “dumbassery on your tax dollars,” because I promise you, there would be at least one cop story filed there every day. This latest example comes to us from Harford County, Md., where the local sheriff’s office now finds itself the subject of…
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Things Michael Rosfeld Can Do Today In Pittsburgh, America's Most Livable City, Because He's Free (And Antwon Rose Can't Because Michael Rosfeld Killed Him)
1. Watch a pierogi race at a Bucs game. 2. Ride the Duquesne incline down from Mt. Washington, and take in the city’s amazing skyline. 3. Eat a Primanti Brothers sandwich in the Strip District or Oakland. 4. Ride the Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood Park, and grab a funnel cake (with strawberries) to go on…