news
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Jury Deadlocks, Mistrial Declared in Police Killing of Jonathan Ferrell
After four days of deliberation, a jury deadlocked in the trial of former Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Police Officer Randall Kerrick, 27, who was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the 2013 shooting death of 24-year-old former Floridan A&M football player Jonathan Ferrell. The 12-member jury—consisting of eight women (two African American, two Hispanic) and four men (three…
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Noted Black Activists Issue a Statement of Solidarity With the Palestinian Struggle
More than 1,000 black activists, artists, scholars and organizations released a statement that expresses “black solidarity” with the Palestinian struggle against Israel, Salon reports. Some of the high-profile signatories include Angela Davis, Cornel West, death row inmate and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, and hip-hop artist Talib Kweli. The statement draws a connection between the Palestinian struggle for…
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NJ Grand Jury Clears Cops in Fatal Shooting Captured on Video
The two New Jersey police officers who fatally shot Jerame Reid will not face criminal charges. A grand jury cleared them Wednesday in the December 2014 shooting, which was captured on their patrol car’s dashboard camera, AP reports. What began as a traffic stop for running through a stop sign escalated when Bridgeton Officer Braheme…
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Autopsy: Teen Shot by St. Louis Police Died From Single Gunshot to the Back
Mansur Ball-Bey, 18, was was shot and killed by St. Louis police officers Wednesday, reportedly died from a single gunshot wound to the back, according to an autopsy, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson urged patience to those who may conclude that the bullet’s location disproves the initial police report…
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Cancer Survivor 5-Year-Old Leah Still Gets Her Own Wheaties Box Cover
Leah Still is now among a celebrated list of sports champions like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan who have appeared on their own Wheaties cereal box, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Her proud father, football player Devon Still, posted a photo of the cover on Instagram. The 5-year-old girl has faced ups and downs in her…
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Wife of St. Louis Cardinals’ President to Pay for Slain Ferguson, Mo., 9-Year-Old’s Funeral
Jamyla Bolden was in bed Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., doing her homework, when bullets pierced her Ferguson, Mo., home. Her mother was shot in the leg during the shooting and has since been released from the hospital; 9-year-old Jamyla didn’t make it. “I never in a million years thought that I’d be laying my daughter…
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2-Year-Old Tells Mom: ‘I Hurt My Dad’ After He Accidentally Shoots, Kills Father: Report
On Tuesday, Divine Vaniah Chambliss, 31, was watching his 2-year-old son in their Hoover, Ala., home when he lay down to take a nap. Police believe the child found his father’s gun and began playing with it. When Chambliss’ wife returned home around 3 p.m., she found her husband in bed, unresponsive, according to AL.com.…
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Prosecutor: Terrance Kellom Shooting Justified
Prosecutors declined to file charges against the federal agent who fatally shot a black man in Detroit, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot Terrance Kellom, 20, during a raid at his home in April. Agent Mitchell Quinn says Kellom attacked him with a hammer, but Kellom’s family says it…
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Ga. NAACP in Showdown Over High School’s Nickname
The Georgia NAACP says it’s time to end veneration of the Confederacy at a high school in southern Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The civil rights group is pressuring officials at Effingham County High School to change the school’s nickname, “Rebels,” because of its connection with the Confederacy during the Civil War. “It’s time for…
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Activist Shaun King Denies Allegations That He Has Lied About His Race
Shaun King, a prominent voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, denied accusations that he lied about being biracial and a victim of a brutal racial attack by a white mob, the New York Times reports. The Daily Caller, a right-wing conservative blog, has been circulating posts for weeks that question King’s honesty. One conservative…