news
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Jesse Matthew Takes Plea in 2005 Va. Sexual Assault
In a Fairfax, Va., court, Jesse Matthew took a plea Wednesday in a decade-old sexual assault, the Washington Post reports. The charges included attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and sexual assault. Matthew, 33, entered an Alford plea, which means that he does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the commonwealth has enough…
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Fla. High School Principal Loses Position After Defending Texas Pool-Party Cop
A North Miami, Fla., high school principal was removed from his position after he expressed support online for the Texas officer who was shown on video dragging a teenage girl to the ground by her hair and pulling his gun on other teenagers, Reuters reports. Alberto Iber, the principal of North Miami Senior High School,…
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Murder Charge Dropped Against Ga. Woman Who Took Abortion Pill
The Dougherty County, Ga., district attorney announced Wednesday that the murder charge against a 23-year-old woman who gave birth prematurely after taking abortion pills to end her pregnancy has been dropped, the Washington Post reports. Kenlissia Jones was slapped with charges of malice murder and possession of a dangerous drug over the weekend after giving…
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Michelle Obama Remembers Slain Teen Hadiya Pendleton at Chicago Graduation
It has been two years since Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago honor student who marched in President Barack Obama’s inaugural parade, succumbed to gunshot wounds after being caught in the crossfire during a gang shooting. However, according to the New York Times, friends, family and even her school have not forgotten the majorette. An empty…
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Police Commission: Ezell Ford’s Shooting Death Violated LAPD Policy
Although Los Angeles Police Officer Sharlton Wampler claims that he was in a life-and-death scuffle for his service weapon with Ezell Ford, the Los Angeles Police Commission rejected Police Chief Charlie Beck’s conclusions that the ultimately fatal shooting of the young man was justified. The commission also suggested that Wampler’s actions caused the deadly encounter,…
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Texas Teen Arrested at Infamous Pool Party Was Trying to Calm Manhandled Girl
Adrian Martin found himself on the other end of McKinney, Texas, Police Cpl. David Eric Casebolt’s service firearm when he attempted to approach a distressed teenage girl who had just been forced to the ground by the same officer. The 18-year-old, who was later arrested, told WFAA-TV that he was scared when he saw the…
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Federal Judge Orders Notorious Angola Prison in La. to Release Black Panther, but State Declines
There’s a legal tug-of-war going on between a federal judge and Louisiana. On Monday U.S. District Judge James Brady ordered the immediate release of Albert Woodfox from a Louisiana prison, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. But the state is appealing Brady’s ruling. The 68-year-old Black Panther has been in solitary confinement at the infamous…
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Calif. Students Described as Future ‘Trash Collators’ in School Yearbook Say It Was Racist
Seniors at Berkeley High School in California were shocked and insulted when they got their yearbooks and saw that students in the AMPS program—the Academy of Medicine and Public Service—were described as future “trash collators.” The word “innovators” had been replaced, NBC Bay Area reports. Robael Gizachew, a senior at the school, said he definitely thinks…
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NYC Police Commissioner: Hard Recruiting Black Officers Because ‘So Many Have Spent Time in Jail’
It’s not that police departments don’t attempt to hire nonwhite police officers; it’s that many nonwhite would-be recruits already have criminal records, rendering them ineligible. … At least that’s New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s opinion, according to a report from The Guardian. “We have a significant population gap among African-American males because so…
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The ‘Pool-Party Cop’ Was Sued in 2008 for Racial Profiling and Using Excessive Force
This isn’t David Eric Casebolt’s first rodeo with regard to accusations of harboring racial biases and exerting excessive force with African Americans. Casebolt—the McKinney, Texas, police corporal who was initially suspended, and then resigned, after a video went viral showing him violently shoving a teenage girl to the ground after a pool party—was sued back in…