news
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Funeral for 13-Year-Old Tyre King Set for This Weekend in Columbus, Ohio
The family of Tyre King says that his funeral will take place this Saturday, WOSU reports. As previously reported by The Root, King, 13, was fatally shot by Columbus, Ohio, Police Officer Bryan Mason on Sept. 14. Mason, a nine-year veteran of the force, was responding to reports of an armed robbery—in the amount…
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Ind. Fever Kneel as a Team During National Anthem
The Indiana Fever began their first-round game in the WNBA playoffs by locking arms and kneeling as a team during the playing of the national anthem Wednesday. Two players for the Phoenix Mercury, Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone, joined in the protest. Coaches for both teams, as well as the rest of the Phoenix Mercury…
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Hagerstown, MD, Police Pepper-Spray 15-Year-Old Girl After Traffic Accident
Police in Hagerstown, Md., have come under fire after body-camera footage showed an officer pepper-spraying a 15-year-old girl who was handcuffed in the back of a squad car. Officers from the Hagerstown Police Department responded to the scene of an accident Sunday afternoon after the girl, whose identity has not been released, reportedly hit a…
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Keith Lamont Scott's Wife Witnessed Him Being Shot by Police, Attorneys Say
Attorneys representing the family of Keith Lamont Scott say that Scott’s wife witnessed the Tuesday-afternoon shooting that killed her husband. “Yes, it’s my understanding that his wife saw him get shot and killed, and that’s something she will never, ever forget,” attorney Justin Bamberg said at a press conference outside the Mecklenburg County, N.C., courthouse…
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University of Tenn. Law Professor Urged Drivers to Hit Charlotte, NC, Protesters
Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, urged motorists to run over demonstrators blocking traffic in Charlotte, N.C., as they protested the death of Keith Lamont Scott, who was fatally shot by police, The Tennessean reports. Reynolds tweeted, “Run them down” in response to a tweet from a news station in Charlotte…
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Joseph Mann's Family Upset at Release of Videos Showing Fatal Shooting by Calif. Police
Joseph Mann’s family wants justice after the Sacramento, Calif., Police Department released videos showing exactly how the fatal shooting of Mann occurred. Now they are saying that it’s clear police acted too soon, CBS Sacramento reports. The four different videos released by police appear to confirm that Joseph Mann, 50, was on the ground shortly after…
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Okla. Officer Who Killed Terence Crutcher Charged With Manslaughter
The Tulsa, Okla., police officer involved in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher has been charged with first-degree felony manslaughter, NPR reports. On Friday, Police Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Crutcher on a Tulsa highway after his car broke down. Video of the shooting showed Crutcher raising his hands as he walked to his vehicle,…
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Video Does Not Show 'Definitive, Visual Evidence' That Keith Lamont Scott Had a Gun, Police Chief Says
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Thursday that it will show body-camera video to Keith Lamont Scott’s family but will not release that video to the public. Although the department has been adamant that the 43-year-old had a gun at the time he was fatally shot by a police officer Tuesday—a claim that his family strongly…
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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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Carla Hayden Becomes 1st Black Librarian of Congress
On Sept. 14, the Library of Congress made history as Carla Hayden became the first black—and first female—librarian of the world’s largest library, the GED Section reports. Hayden was sworn in by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. “To be the first female librarian of Congress speaks to what Melvil Dewey said when…