news
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Chicago Officer Who Killed Rekia Boyd Has Charges Dismissed; Courtroom Erupts in Anger
The charges against the Chicago police officer involved in the 2012 shooting death of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd have been dismissed, WLS reports. A Cook County judge ruled that there was no evidence of reckless conduct, which would be necessary to move forward with the involuntary manslaughter charge, prompting the dismissal, the news station reports. Dante…
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Mich. Officer Charged With Assault in Violent Traffic Stop Caught on Dash Cam
A now-former Inkster, Mich., police officer has been charged with two counts of assault to do great bodily harm after being caught on dash-cam footage beating a 57-year-old autoworker during a violent traffic stop, ClickOnDetroit reports. William Melendez also faces charges of mistreatment of a prisoner and misconduct in office for the treatment of Floyd…
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NY Teen Who Lost Everything in Hurricane Is Accepted at 7 Ivy League Schools
In the latter part of 2012, Hurricane Sandy destroyed the Baldwin, N.Y., family home of Daria Rose. The Long Island teen, then a sophomore in high school, lost everything she had accumulated in her young life: her clothes, photos, furniture—all gone in an instant. “It was hard because it’s really unpredictable when you don’t have…
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Civil Rights Activist and Pioneering Heart Surgeon Levi Watkins Jr. Dead at 70
Renowned cardiac surgeon and civil rights activist Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. died on Saturday in Baltimore at the age of 70, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine announced, according to the New York Times. The day before his death, Watkins had been welcoming students to a Johns Hopkins University Hospital training program when he took…
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1st Black Police Officer of ‘the White City’ Says He Suffered Yearlong Racist Abuse
When Gerry Pickens arrived in Orting, Wash., to begin his job as a police officer—becoming the first black police officer in the town since its founding in 1889—city officials saw it as a milestone for a place that was once known as “the White City.” According to the Washington Post, one city administrator called Pickens’…
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Shooting at HBCU Injures 1 Student
Police in Charlotte, N.C., arrested four men for a shooting incident that injured one person at Johnson C. Smith University, the Charlotte Observer reports. The four suspects—Everett Phifer, Elijah Craig, Juan Leon and Shalique Edmond—reportedly shot an unidentified male student while he was sitting in a car on the campus of the historically black liberal…
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GOP Senator: Loretta Lynch Vote Likely in 2-3 Days
A high-ranking Republican believes that the Senate is likely in the next few days to approve Loretta Lynch as the nation’s next attorney general, a nomination that has been delayed as Republicans jostle for political position. “My sense is over the next 48 to 72 hours that is going to be resolved, and we will…
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Ride of His Life: Passenger Raises Money for Dying Grandfather to Pay Off Home
Sixty-nine-year-old Kenneth Broskey was given up to 10 weeks to live, but he refused to check into hospice because his family still needed his help. According to ABC News, Broskey, who has been battling cancer for some two years, was still working as a part-time real estate agent and a full-time Uber driver in Michigan…
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Watch: 27-Year-Old Baltimore Man Dies From Spinal Injuries Received During ‘Brutal’ Arrest
A 27-year-old Baltimore man who was critically injured a week ago during a brutal arrest has died from his injuries, family and a hospital spokeswoman told the Baltimore Sun on Sunday. Freddie Gray, who was placed in a medically induced coma with a broken spine at Shock Trauma, died just hours after a protest against…
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Watch: Women Brawling at Philly Clothing Store Goes Viral
A dispute involving several women at a popular clothing store in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square mall on Friday erupted into a brawl that was recorded by other shoppers in videos that went viral, according to NBC Philadelphia. It was unclear what sparked the fight among at least five women who slapped, threw punches and yanked hair…