massachusetts
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Springfield, Mass., Internal-Affairs Report Reveals Missing Video, Contradictory Testimony by Officers in Alleged Police Beating
An internal-affairs investigation into an alleged fight outside a bar in Springfield, Mass., involving off-duty Springfield police officers, resident Paul Cumby and three other men has brought to light new information, including missing video footage, contradictory testimony by officers and the fact that patrolmen responding to the fight could not explain why they did not…
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Mass. Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Black Man, Saying ‘Black Lives Don’t Matter’
A Northampton, Mass., man was sentenced to six months in jail Friday in Northampton District Court after pleading guilty to charges of a civil rights violation, assault and battery to intimidate. According to Mass Live, James L. McIntyre admitted to elbowing a black man in downtown Northampton, using a racial slur and saying, “Black lives…
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ACLU of Mass.: Plan to Use Inmates to Build Border Wall 'Modern-Day Slave Labor'
Last week, during his swearing-in ceremony, Bristol County, Mass., Sheriff Thomas Hodgson proposed offering inmates as free labor if President-elect Donald Trump decided to go forth with his plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. As it turns out, some civil rights advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts included, aren’t very…
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Mass. Sheriff Offers Free Inmate Labor to Build Trump’s US-Mexico Border Wall
A Massachusetts sheriff is offering inmates in his county jail as free labor if President-elect Donald Trump should decide to go forth with his plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Herald News reports. “I can think of no other project that would have such a positive impact on our inmates and…
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Mass. Supreme Judicial Court: Black Men May Have Good Reason to Run From Police
Jimmy Warren was arrested Dec. 18, 2011, in Roxbury, Mass., after being approached by police who thought that he met a vague suspect description. He was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, but on Tuesday, the state’s highest court threw out the gun conviction, WBUR News reports. Warren was originally stopped because he, along…
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Mass. Man Allegedly Stockpiled Weapons to Attack Police, Muslims and Obama
A Holliston, Mass., man was arrested under suspicion of stockpiling weapons and ammunition in order to carry out attacks against law-enforcement officers, Muslims and even President Barack Obama, Time reports. Joseph Garguilo was arrested Saturday after authorities said FBI agents raided his home and uncovered parts for an AR-15 rifle, ammunition, chemicals that could make…
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White Mass. Mayor Won’t Remove Black Lives Matter Banner From City Hall
A Massachusetts mayor has refused to remove a Black Lives Matter banner from City Hall at the request of the local police union. The banner features the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and has been hanging from Somerville City Hall since August 2015. According to USA Today, the Somerville Police Employee’s Association recently published a letter to Mayor Joseph…
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Co-Defendant of Aaron Hernandez Takes Plea Deal in 2013 Death of Odin Lloyd
A co-defendant of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez took a plea deal for his part in the 2013 death of Odin Lloyd and was sentenced Monday, CNN reports. Carlos Ortiz, 30, changed his not guilty plea and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact for helping Hernandez after the fatal 2013 shooting. In…