news
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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…
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Md. Man, 21, Dies After Fight With Baltimore County Police
A 21-year-old Essex, Md., man who was hospitalized after a fight with Baltimore County Police has died. According to KTTS, police responded to 911 calls that included a man and a woman screaming around 3 a.m. Sunday. The woman told officers who arrived at the residence that her boyfriend, Tawon Boyd, was acting “crazy” and…
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White College Students Post Racist Snapchat Photo: 'We Locked the Black B–ch Out'
A group of University of North Dakota students took to Snapchat to post images of themselves after reportedly locking a black student out of her own dorm. The photo shows three laughing white female students with the caption, “Locked the black bitch out,” according to Raw Story. UND student Etonde Maloke took to Facebook on…
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Watch: Did a Former St. Louis Cop Plant a Gun on a Suspect After Fatal Shooting?
A former St. Louis police officer is facing first-degree murder charges in the 2011 fatal shooting of a driver authorities said was believed to have been involved in a drug deal. New video of the incident, obtained by several news outlets, appears to show the officer pointing a personal weapon at the driver and then,…
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Eyewitness to #KeithLamontScott Shooting: The Officer Who Shot That Man Was White
Updated Sunday, Sept. 25, 12:32 p.m. EDT: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has released dashcam and body-cam footage that appears to contradict eyewitness Taheshia Williams’ statement that Keith Lamont Scott’s hands were up when he was shot by a CMPD officer—though Scott is not waving a gun or posing “an imminent deadly threat to the officers,” as CMPD…
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#CharlotteProtest: NC Gov. Pat McCrory Declares State of Emergency, Calls in National Guard
As fiery protests in Charlotte, N.C., stretch into the third day, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has issued a state of emergency, activating the National Guard to “assist local law enforcement” in silencing protests that exploded in the wake of police fatally shooting Keith Lamont Scott, 43. As previously reported by The Root: By early Wednesday morning,…
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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Takes #NoDAPL Fight to the United Nations
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II asked the United Nations for help Tuesday in preventing the Dakota Access Pipeline from being built. Archambault spoke at the 33rd session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which runs Sept. 13-30 in Geneva. Archambault told the council that oil companies are causing the deliberate destruction of “our…