news
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Milwaukee Officer Who Fatally Shot Sylville Smith Fired After Sex Assault Charge
The Milwaukee Police Department has fired the officer who fatally shot Sylville Smith, following an investigation into an unrelated sexual assault case, Time reports. Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown was terminated, effective Monday, after a Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs investigation into a criminal complaint filed against the officer. Last week, a man reported to Milwaukee police…
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Chicago Mom Furious After Teacher's Aide Allegedly Slams Special Needs Child to the Ground
A Chicago mother is furious after her 12-year-old special needs son was allegedly beaten up and slammed to the ground by a school employee as other children looked on, CBS Chicago reports. Monice Guess said that her son, Rashawn, is “hyper” and “moody at times,” but that he definitely did not deserve what happened to…
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Pa. College Student Accused of Putting Bleach in Pregnant Girlfriend's Water
A Pennsylvania college student is facing charges after allegedly putting bleach in his pregnant girlfriend’s water in an attempt to harm the fetus, the Associated Press reports. Theophilous Washington, 20, of Washington, D.C., is facing charges of criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder of an unborn child, as well as reckless endangering. Washington is a junior…
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#NoDAPL: Facebook Users Check in at Standing Rock in a Rousing Show of Solidarity
A post that went viral on Facebook beginning Sunday evening urged users to check in at Standing Rock Reservation in Cannonball, N.D. The post said that users would be helping to thwart law-enforcement officers who were using social media to track protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The post instructed users to make a public…
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Calif.'s 1st Female Black Judge and Longtime Jurist Dead at 96
The first female black judge in California, and one of the state’s longest-serving jurists in state history, has died at the age of 96, the Associated Press reports. Vaino Spencer died in her sleep of natural causes Oct. 25 at her home in Los Angeles, her niece, Fatimah Gilliam, said. Spencer was born July 22, 1920,…
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#NoDAPL: Amnesty International Sending Human Rights Delegation to Standing Rock
In a press release issued Oct. 28, Amnesty International USA announced that it will be sending a delegation of human rights observers to monitor the response of law enforcement to protests by indigenous communities. As previously reported on The Root, tensions rose at a #NoDAPL resistance camp Oct. 27 when more than 100 militarized police…
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Judge Rules Flint Residents Can Sue State of Mich. Over Water Crisis
A judge in the Michigan Court of Claims ruled Thursday that residents of the city of Flint, Mich., have the right to sue the state and state officials for the decisions that led to the city’s lead-contaminated-water crisis. The Detroit News reports that Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Mark T. Boonstra, who presides over the…
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NC Sued by NAACP Over Alleged Voter Purge Targeting Black Voters
The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is suing North Carolina over an alleged voter purge that it claims disproportionately affected African Americans, Talking Points Memo reports. Apparently, 4,500 voters had their voter registrations challenged by a few individuals. The North Carolina NAACP has accused state and local officials of a violation of the National Voter Registration Act…
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Study Shows Discrimination Among Uber and Lyft Drivers
A study published Monday by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of Washington reveals that racial discrimination exists among Uber and Lyft drivers, Bloomberg reports. In Boston, drivers canceled rides for men with “black-sounding” names more than twice as often as for other men, according to the study. And…
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Sunday’s Best: Cam Newton’s Easter-Pink Suit and St. Patrick’s Day Hat
It’s getting harder these days to take Cam Newtown seriously. On Sunday evening, after the quarterback led his team to a 30-20 win over Arizona Cardinals, Newton walked into the postgame conference looking like a vaudeville sideshow. The 6-foot-6 quarterback was wearing a soft-pink suit, a leprechaun hat with one of those Ben Franklin quill…