news
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Defense Claims Girl and Mother Falsified Rape Claims Against Jelani Maraj to ‘Shake Down’ Nicki Minaj for Money
The child-rape trial against Jelani Maraj drew to a close Monday with prosecutors and the defense presenting their closing arguments. While prosecutors emphasized the bravery of the two children who testified—Maraj’s 14-year-old stepdaughter and her younger brother—and the physical evidence against Maraj, defense attorney David Schwartz pressed the claim that the rape charges were all…
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‘That’s How People Like You Get Shot’: Ga. Teacher on Administrative Leave, Accused of Student Threat
A Rockdale County, Ga., teacher has been put on administrative leave after being caught on camera apparently threatening a black student. The mother of the student, April Carr, posted the video on Facebook and also filed a police report, according to WSB-TV. In the video captured by someone else in the classroom, Rockdale Career Academy…
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Black Man Admits to Vandalizing His Car With Racist Graffiti in ‘Halloween Prank That Got Out of Hand’
A black Kansas man has admitted to tagging his own car with horrific, racist graffiti that disgusted residents and sparked racial tensions, calling the incident a “Halloween prank that got out of hand.” The car—which was parked in an apartment complex near Kansas State University—was covered in washable yellow paint with slurs like “Go Home…
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If the Texas Church Shooter Wasn’t White
At least 26 people were killed and another 20 wounded in a brutal terror attack when a white, Christian American from gun-loving rural Texas opened fire in a Lone Star State house of worship Sunday. The shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, had a long history of violence and white-on-white crime before committing this act of terrorism. Tenderhearted…
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Tony Romo Tried to Roast Deion Sanders, Deion Clapped Back
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo learned the hard way this weekend that it’s never a good idea to talk smack about someone as quick and as harsh with his comebacks as Deion Sanders. While calling the Chiefs-Cowboys game for CBS on Sunday, Romo commented that Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters is not a good tackler—and…
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Despite Supreme Court Ruling, District Attorneys in La. Are Working Against Juvenile Lifers Seeking Parole
In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that giving juveniles mandatory life sentences without parole was a violation of the Eighth Amendment. In 2016 a Supreme Court decision made the 2012 ruling apply retroactively, yet the state of Louisiana continues to push back and fight against giving juvenile offenders an opportunity at parole. The Times-Picayune…
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Papa John’s: Now the Official ‘Pizza’ of Nazis, According to Nazis
After Papa John’s blamed the NFL players protests for its lagging pizza sales, the Daily Stormer quickly caped for its trash-ass “pizza.” (For the uninitiated, the Stormer is a site rife with neo-Nazis and white supremacists that, coincidentally, can’t keep The Root’s name out of its mouth.) Last week, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter told…
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Fox News Host Looks for the ‘Positive’ in Texas Shooting, Insinuates Church Is the Best Place to Be Shot
I’m not sure if Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt was attempting to comfort the grieving families of those who lost loved ones in the Texas church massacre over the weekend, or if she were extolling her own faith and preferences, or if she just, as a matter of fact, enjoys shoving her whole entire foot…
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Will White Identity Politics Prevail on Tuesday? Conservatives Use Racist, Anti-Immigrant Messages to Get Out the Vote
To paraphrase The Root’s editor-in-chief, Danielle Belton, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, rife with xenophobia, sexism and racism, made a cattle call of what previous conservative leaders had merely dog-whistled. Now, as select state and local races across the country draw to a close this Tuesday (among them, Virginia’s hotly contested gubernatorial race), conservatives around the…
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Authorities Believe ‘Domestic Situation’ May Have Motivated Gunman in Texas Church Shooting
Authorities say that a “domestic situation” within the Texas gunman’s family may have sparked the horrific shooting that left 26 dead in a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church. “The suspect’s mother-in-law attended this church,” Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Freeman Martin told reporters Monday morning, according to the New York Times. “We know that he…