news
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Chicago Cop Charged in Death of Laquan McDonald Enters Not-Guilty Plea
Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who faces a first-degree-murder charge in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, entered a not-guilty plea at his Tuesday-morning arraignment, the Chicago Tribune reports. According to the report, it was the first time Van Dyke appeared before Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan, who is hearing the case. His…
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Calif. Man Arrested for Allegedly Burning Woman Alive on Christmas Day
California police have arrested a man for reportedly dousing a woman with gasoline and lighting her on fire during a domestic dispute on Christmas day in Pomona in Los Angeles, the Associated Press reports. Clarence Dear, 51, was arrested on Sunday on a bus in Atladena following a tip. He is currently being held on…
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Muslim Family Dines at Ga. Restaurant on Christmas Eve and This Happens
Eslam Mohamed and his family went to an Olive Garden in Georgia on Christmas Eve, and when he asked for the check for his table of 12, he received a receipt with the message, “Paid. Merry Christmas Beautiful Family” written across it. Turns out that an anonymous customer, who embodied the true spirit of the…
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‘Affluenza’ Teen Ethan Couch and Mom Captured in Mexico
Ethan Couch—who became infamous after a fatal 2013 drunken-driving crash for which his lawyers argued that the Texas teen should be spared jail time because he suffered from “affluenza,” an affliction of wealth with little understanding of consequences—has been captured in Mexico. NBC News reports that Couch, 18, was detained along with his mother in…
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Hillary Clinton Vows to Champion Wage Increase for Struggling Black Families in SC Radio Ad
Hillary Clinton is reaching out to South Carolina’s black families through an ad on black radio that debuts Tuesday. In the 60-second spot, the Democratic presidential candidate delivers a key message of her campaign: Raising wages “is the defining economic challenge of our time.” A narrator in the ad says that hardworking black families in…
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Tamir Rice Found Guilty of Being Young, Free and Black
Today a grand jury in Cleveland did what this system does. They put an exclamation point on the statement that black lives don’t matter. That black children do not matter. That being young, black and free is a crime punishable immediately by death. For over a year, there has been a chorus of people demanding…
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No Criminal Charges for Cleveland Officer Who Killed 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice
Updated Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, 8:24 p.m. EST: Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, released the following statement shortly after the grand jury released its decision not to indict Officers Timothy Loehmann (who shot and killed Tamir) and Frank Garmback: My family and I are in pain and devastated by the non-indictment of officers…
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NYC College Student Accuses Cops of Wrongful Arrest, Assault for Walking His Puppy
A 25-year-old New York City college student is accusing officers of wrongfully arresting and beating him up after they encountered him walking his 5-month-old puppy outside his house without a leash, the New York Daily News reports. Nicholson Gregoire was walking around outside his Queens Village home Dec. 15 when he saw two officers conducting…
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Legendary Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon Dead at 83
Meadowlark Lemon, known and loved for his antics on the court as part of the iconic traveling basketball show the Harlem Globetrotters, died Sunday in Arizona at the age of 83, leaving the world with a little less laughter, the New York Times reports. Incredibly talented as an athlete, Lemon joined the team in 1954…
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Chicago Police Shooting: Victims’ Family and Friends Demand Answers
Bettie Jones, 55, received a call early Saturday morning asking if she could help police gain access to her building. According to ABC 7 Chicago, Jones’ neighbor in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood, Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was wielding a bat and acting erratically, so his father called police and then called downstairs to ask if…