Politics
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Baton Rouge, La., Police Officers Will Not Be Charged in Alton Sterling’s Death: Report
The Justice Department has decided not to charge the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, according to the Washington Post. Sterling was shot July 5, 2016, after someone called to complain that Sterling was selling CDs out of a car in the parking lot of the Triple S Food Mart and had…
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Jordan Edwards’ Family Releases Statement: ‘Jordan’s Brothers Lost Their Best Friend’
The family of Jordan Edwards, the 15-year-old fatally shot Saturday night by a Balch Springs, Texas, police officer wielding a rifle, have released a statement to The Root via their attorney, S. Lee Merritt. Read the Edwards family’s full statement below: We would first like to thank everyone for their kind words, thoughts, prayers, and…
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Texas High School Football Team Mourns Loss of Jordan Edwards, 15-Year-Old Killed by Police
Monday morning was meant to be the first day of spring football practice at Mesquite (Texas) High School. Instead, a group of grieving high school athletes gathered in the hour before classes were scheduled to begin, mourning the loss of one of their very own, who lost his life in a police shooting. According to…
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Jordan Edwards Killing: Police Chief, on His Claim That Vehicle Was Backing Toward Officers Aggressively, Says ‘I Misspoke’
Updated Monday, May 1, 2017, 7:06 p.m. EDT: Balch Springs, Texas, Police Chief Jonathan Haber has retracted his earlier statement that the car in which Jordan Edwards, 15, was traveling Saturday night was “backing down the street toward officers in an aggressive manner,” which he initially claimed prompted a police officer to open fire with…
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Man Gets 15 Years for Shooting 5 BLM Activists Protesting Police Shooting Death of Jamar Clark
A Minnesota man who shot five Black Lives Matter protesters has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. CBS News reports that Allen Scarsella, 25, and his crew got into an argument with some protesters who were demonstrating outside a Minneapolis police station after the 2015 shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark by police. Eyewitnesses…
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#BlackLivesMatter College Course Aims to Educate People Beyond the Hashtag and Slogan
Most people only know the phrase “Black Lives Matter” as a slogan and a hashtag; they don’t understand the true meaning behind the movement. There are many rumors, misconceptions and misrepresentations of what it is about, but the folks behind a new class at the University of Washington aim to change that. La Tasha Levy…
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Demetrius Hollins, 21-Year-Old Beaten by 2 Ga. Cops, Says He Feared for Life During Traffic Stop
Demetrius Hollins’ encounter with two Gwinnett County, Ga., police officers during a traffic stop went viral last week after one officer was seen punching the motorist in his face, and another officer was seen racing to the scene later, only to stomp the young man in his face. Those officers have since been fired from…
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Ga. Cop Seen on Video Kicking Handcuffed Man in the Head During Traffic Stop
A Gwinnett County, Ga., police officer has prompted social media outrage after video of him kicking a handcuffed man in the head went viral. A Gwinnett County Police Department spokesperson called the video “very disturbing” and said that the officer involved has since been placed on administrative leave, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The incident, which…
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North Miami Cop Charged With Attempted Manslaughter in Shooting of Unarmed Therapist
A North Miami police officer who shot an unarmed behavioral therapist as he cared for a man with autism has been charged with attempted manslaughter. ABC News reports that the Florida State Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Officer Jonathan Aledda Tuesday in the July 18, 2016, shooting of Charles Kinsey, who thankfully survived the…