police brutality
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Video Shows Texas Police Throwing Black Schoolteacher to the Ground Twice
Officials in Austin, Texas, are investigating the violent arrest last year of a black elementary school teacher who was slammed to the ground twice during a traffic stop, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Also under investigation are comments apparently made by an officer who can be heard on video telling the teacher, Breaion King, that black people…
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A Story About Charles Kinsey, My New (White) Neighbors, And The Racial Politics Of Calling The Police
I live in a two story loft that sits above a coffee shop on one of Pittsburgh’s busy intersections. It also exists directly across the street from a park, within walking distance of several restaurants, and a few blocks away from a hospital. Naturally, the neighborhood gets quite a bit of foot traffic during the day.…
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Fla. Police Shoot Black Caretaker of Autistic Man Playing With Toy Truck
A North Miami, Fla., caretaker was shot and wounded by police Monday as he tried to retrieve a 23-year-old autistic man who had wandered from a mental-health center into the street, the Miami Herald reports. Cellphone video released Wednesday shows the caretaker, Charles Kinsey, lying on the ground, with his hands in the air, trying…
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Atlanta Teen Who Wrote 'White Boy Privilege' Addresses Police Brutality in New Poem
An Atlanta 14-year-old who called out “White Boy Privilege” at a slam-poetry contest at his school in May is now taking up the heavy topic of police brutality, set to debut his latest slam poem Thursday, CNN reports. Royce Mann will be featured in a segment of the Fox talk show The Preachers, which is scheduled to air…
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1 Mother Had Enough of Being Afraid for Her Sons, so She Did Something About It
Last August, as I picked up a strawberry birthday cake and Batman-themed decorations for my son’s seventh birthday party, I began to cry. It was a familiar scenario. I cry on all of my two sons’ birthdays. They are 7 and 4. Mine are not tears of joy but, rather, tears of fear. Fear for…
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How to Go From #BlackLivesMatter to #BlackPolicyMatters
How do we go from #BlackLivesMatter to changing the policies that devalue black life? This moment feels both full of possibility and also in danger of going unfulfilled. Folks across the political spectrum are finally confronting the issue of police violence, but there’s little consensus about how to fix it. Organizations like Campaign Zero are…
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Who’s Responsible for Showing ‘Reckless Disregard’ for Freddie Gray’s Life?
In closing arguments Thursday in the trial of Baltimore Police Lt. Brian Rice relating to the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015, the prosecution argued that Rice showed a reckless disregard for Gray’s life by throwing him into the transport wagon facedown, shackled and handcuffed onto a dirty, corrugated floor, and that as a commanding officer, Rice held…