Police Brutality
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Former Ohio Police Officer Charged With Murder in Fatally Shooting Unarmed Black Man Andre Hill
If we’ve learned anything in our fight against police violence and systemic racism in our justice system, it’s that it is damn hard to hold cops who kill unarmed Black people accountable for their crimes. Even when they’re charged in connection with these shootings the charge is almost never murder. I personally believe that the…
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Board Reverses Firings of Atlanta Cops Who Tased HBCU Students, Dragged Them From Car During Protest
Ever since a national spotlight was put on police violence and systemic racism amid a wave of nationwide protests, cops across America have been big mad and big hurt. They feel they’re being treated as unfairly in the court of public opinion as Black people are treated in actual courts. Here’s the thing, though: Who…
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9-Year-Old Black Girl Pepper-Sprayed by Rochester Police After Refusing to Get in Patrol Car After Domestic Disturbance
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Cops don’t need to be called to every emergency. This goes especially for emergency calls that involve the mental health or general wellness of Black people. We’ve seen time and time again that when police officers are called to handle non-violent emergencies involving Black people, they…
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Black Student Who Was Knocked Unconscious by Florida Officer Is ‘Traumatized’ and Seriously Injured, Family Says
Last week, The Root reported that a Black high school student was body-slammed and knocked unconscious by a school resource officer at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, Fla. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Department said the officer was trying to stop a fight between her and another student, but video footage of the incident recorded by…
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Black Family That Was Handcuffed After Being Wrongfully Suspected of Riding in Stolen Vehicle Sues Aurora, Colo., Police
In August of last year, a Black family was stopped by police in Aurora, Colo. Four Black girls—children and teenagers, ages 6, 12, 14 and 17—were ordered out of their vehicle at gunpoint and made to lie on the ground while officers handcuffed the 12- and 17-year-olds while they screamed and cried in terror. The cops…
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Why Activists Are Frustrated by the Appointment of Louisville’s New Police Chief
What happens when a high-ranking police officer resigns from one police department after the unjust police shooting of a Black citizen only to become police chief of another embattled police department that came into the spotlight after the unjust police shooting of another Black citizen? Well, mainly, the new police chief is being greeted with…
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'Enough Is Enough': Anjanette Young Declares That She Will Not Be Taking Her Foot Off Chicago PD's Neck at MLK Day Rally
I have a lot of respect for Anjanette Young, the Black woman whose dignity and wellbeing Chicago police officers had such little regard for that they made her wait handcuffed and naked for over half an hour while they searched the wrong home for a suspect in Feb. 2019. Some victims of police violence let…
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Maryland ACLU Releases ‘Chasing Justice’ Report Detailing Baltimore Police Misconduct Allegations
In 2017, The Root reported that the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Baltimore reached an agreement on a consent decree to ensure that the city and Baltimore Police Department “protect individuals’ statutory and constitutional rights, treat individuals with dignity and respect, and promote public safety in a manner that is fiscally responsible…
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'I Can’t Breathe Until I Know Justice is Happening': Son of Unarmed Black Man Killed by Texas Cop Speaks Out
If I’m ever having any sort of mental breakdown, don’t call the police. Of course, that request wouldn’t have saved the life of 52-year-old Patrick Warren Sr. of Killeen, Texas, who was fatally shot by a police officer responding to a call Warren’s family said they made to authorities expecting a mental health professional to…