news
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Home of Fla. Muslim Family Shot at After Paris Attacks
Members of an Orange County, Fla., Muslim family are shaken after their home was shot at following the terrorist attacks on Paris, prompting fears for their safety because of their religion, WFTV reports. Homeowner Amir Elmasri, who is listed as Mohmoud Elmasri in the sheriff’s report, says he and his family were not home when the…
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Minneapolis Mayor Calls for Federal Investigation Into Police Shooting as Protests Continue
The mayor of Minneapolis has called for a federal investigation into the fatal police shooting Sunday of a black man who witnesses say was handcuffed. According to the Associated Press, Mayor Betsy Hodges on Monday wrote to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, asking for an…
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Tech Innovator and Diversity Advocate Hank Williams Dies at 50
Hank Williams, a champion for diversity in technology who worked tirelessly to demand that companies rethink hiring practices and initiatives to employ women and people of color, died Sunday. Williams, 50, a resident of New York, had been hospitalized for over a week while battling “pneumonia and myocarditis, which can be caused by a viral…
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Obama Defends Administration’s Handling of ISIS at G-20 Summit: ‘Folks Wanna Pop Off … Present a Specific Plan’
President Barack Obama is standing firmly with France while just as adamantly defending his administration’s strategy for fighting ISIS, or the Islamic State. On Monday, while speaking at the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Obama slammed the terrorist group as “the face of evil” while saying that the goal is to “destroy this barbaric organization,”…
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MTU Student to Appear in Court for Making Social Media Threats Against Black Students
Updated Monday, Nov. 16, 2:48 p.m. EST: The 21-year-old Michigan Technological University student who is accused of making social media threats against black students at the school refused to enter a plea to a charge of disturbing the peace when asked, Reuters reports. The judge in the Houghton County District Court reportedly entered a plea…
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Protest Erupts After Minneapolis Police Shoot Man Witnesses Say Was Handcuffed; Protesters Demand #Justice4Jamar
Protests erupted Sunday in Minneapolis after witnesses said an officer shot a handcuffed black man. Around 12:45 a.m., police were responding to an assault call that escalated to a “help” call when the suspect reportedly returned to the area, “confronting paramedics and disrupting their ability to render aid,” according to a police statement viewed by…
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New Orleans Police Crime-Lab Tech Is Called to Crime Scene, Makes Devastating Discovery
Jonathan Dotson Sr., 31, was shot and killed Nov. 7, his body left in a New Orleans house that was under construction. Alonia Singleton, a crime-lab technician, had been called out to photograph the crime scene when she recognized the victim’s tattoo. Before Dotson’s body was placed in a body bag, Singleton asked if the…
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Officers Who Killed Tamir Rice Say They Were Not Indifferent to Dying Boy
The Cleveland police officers who fatally shot Tamir Rice filed a legal motion Friday to dismiss the medical-indifference claim alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit of Tamir’s family, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback argued in the motion (pdf) that they “did not show a deliberate indifference to…
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Democratic Presidential Candidates Debated Foreign Policy Following Paris Terror Attack
Foreign policy was the primary focus of Saturday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fielded tough questions on the night following the terrorist attack in Paris, NBC reports. Clinton has more foreign policy experience than rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Yet…
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Va. Attorney General: I Don’t Have Authority to Oversee Linwood Lambert Investigation
Virginia’s attorney general lacks the authority to take over the investigation into Linwood Lambert Jr.’s death, his spokeswoman said, according to the Associated Press. MSNBC was first to obtain a video that shows South Boston, Va., police officers shooting a handcuffed Lambert, 46, multiple times with Tasers. The incident happened in 2013, and black leaders…