Police Brutality
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Police Union Issues A Statement That's Somehow Worse Than How They Treated Jazmine Headley and Her Baby
On Tuesday, Jazmine Headley, her family, and her advocates received some much-needed good news: the 23-year-old woman, who was arrested after NYPD officers attempted to rip her 1-year-old baby from her arms, was released from Rikers Island, and all charges against her have been dropped. It was a small victory. But a statement issued by…
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Federal Court Rules Cops Can't Arrest You for Secretly Filming Them
Contrary to popular belief, in many states, recording the police is a crime. Laws in 38 states plainly allow citizens to openly film the police in public. However, there are 12 states–California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington–where wiretap laws prohibit citizens from secretly recording police. These states…
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Black Toronto Residents Are 20 Times More Likely to Be Killed by Police, New Report Finds
Less than 10 percent of the population of Toronto is black, but according to a new study, black residents of Canada’s largest city make up 70 percent of fatal police shootings. The study, undertaken by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, was released on Monday and delves into seven years of data on police interactions. The…
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They Tried It: Attorney Representing Botham Jean's Family Acquitted on 16 Counts of Criminal Contempt
When you make it your personal mission to fight for the rights and liberties of marginalized communities, the powers that be will make it theirs to put you out of business. Which is exactly what happened to civil rights attorney Lee Merritt—who just so happens to be holding police officer Amber Guyger accountable for murdering…
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If This Is Not Murder, Then What Is? Cop Who Killed Unarmed Dennis Jeffrey Will Not Face Charges
Richard Nicoletti is not a murderer. Let’s be clear about that. Pennsylvania law describes first-degree murder as an “intentional killing” and second-degree murder as a criminal homicide “committed while [the] defendant was engaged as a principal or an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony.” So when Officer Nicoletti, a 29-year-veteran of Philadelphia’s police force,…
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Protesters Are Shutting Down an Alabama Town After a Police Shooting
On Thursday night, parents in Hoover, Ala., couldn’t take their children to the city’s annual Christmas Tree lighting because one group of people are coming into their town to ruin the most wonderful time of year. But instead of lamenting how they were missing out on their yearly tradition, the parents should have been grateful…
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Say No Mo', Where Is Video?: The Assassination of E.J. Bradford
ASSASSINATE: transitive verb 1: to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons; a plot to assassinate the governor 2: to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously; assassinate a man’s character; “While, in life, he may not have fit the definition of a “prominent person,” the sudden theft of…
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Murder Was the Case That They Gave Her, But Will It Stick?
A grand jury in Dallas indicted former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger on a murder charge for the shooting death of Botham Jean. Nearly three months after the 26-year-old Jean was shot in his apartment while minding his own business, the wheels of justice seem to be turning just a bit. But will there be…