excessive force
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Former Balch Springs, Texas, Officer Who Shot and Killed Jordan Edwards Indicted on Murder Charge
The fired Balch Springs, Texas, police officer who shot and killed Jordan Edwards, a black teen who was leaving a party earlier this year, was indicted on a murder charge Monday by a Dallas County grand jury. According to the Dallas Morning News, 37-year-old Roy Oliver was also indicted on four counts of aggravated assault…
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Black Teen ‘Mistaken’ for Larger, Bald Black Man Says Police in Calif. Drew Gun on Her, Punched Her in the Mouth
A black 19-year-old woman says she was confronted by police at gunpoint, punched in the mouth and bitten by a police dog after Bakersfield, Calif., police apparently mistook her for a much larger, bald black man who was suspected of threatening people with a machete at a nearby grocery store. According to the Bakersfield Californian,…
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Off-Duty Ill. Cop ‘Detained’ Black Teen for Not Following Orders, Lansing Police Say
The Lansing, Ill., Police Department is claiming that a white off-duty officer “detained” a black teen on the officer’s property after the boy and another juvenile refused to follow his orders to remain there. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Police Department issued the statement Tuesday after video of the black teen, identified as 15-year-old…
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Family of Alton Sterling Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The family of Alton Sterling—a black man who was gunned down on July 5, 2016, by Baton Rouge, La., police—has filed a wrongful death suit against the city, the Baton Rouge Police Department, the police chief and two officers involved in the encounter. The lawsuit claims that the shooting fit a pattern of racist behavior…
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‘I Could Kill You’: Video Shows Off-Duty Ill. Police Officer Pinning Black Teen to the Ground
Another video has surfaced showing an off-duty Lansing, Ill., police officer pinning down a black teen and threatening his life, all because the boy was trying to help a friend who happened to be on the officer’s property. According to WGN TV, the incident began Saturday night when a few teenage boys got into a…
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City of St. Anthony, Minn., Reaches $3,000,000 Settlement With Family of Philando Castile
The city of St. Anthony, Minn., will avoid a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Philando Castile’s family in the wake of his 2016 shooting death by paying out nearly $3 million to his family. According to the Associated Press, Castile’s mother is set to receive the $2.995 million as settlement in Castile’s death at the…
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Mistrial Declared for 2nd Time in Case of Ohio Cop Who Shot and Killed Sam Dubose
For the second time, jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of Ray Tensing, the (now-former) University of Cincinnati police officer who shot Sam Dubose in the head during a traffic stop. According to WCPO, jury deliberations began Monday after six days of testimony and one day of closing arguments…
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Fired Milwaukee Police Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown Found Not Guilty in Fatal Shooting of Sylville Smith
Fired Milwaukee Police Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown was found not guilty in the fatal shooting of Sylville Smith. According to Fox6Now, the jury returned the not guilty verdict on a charge of first-degree reckless homicide after entering into a second day of deliberations on Wednesday. Prosecutors attempted to argue that Smith was defenseless and “looked like…
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Officials Recommend 1-Day Suspension After Columbus, Ohio, Officer Is Caught Kicking Handcuffed Black Man in the Head
Officials in Ohio have recommended a 24-hour suspension for a Columbus police officer who was caught on video stomping on a handcuffed man’s head, because that seemed totally reasonable to them. Had I walked up to a random person (let alone a restrained person) and kicked him or her in the head, it would be…
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Texas Governor Signs ‘Weakened’ Sandra Bland Act Into Law
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Sandra Bland Act into law Thursday, in what was supposed to be a decisive move to address the issues that led to Bland’s death. As the Texas Tribune notes, the act obligates county jails to channel individuals with mental-health and substance abuse issues toward treatment, and to make it…