police brutality
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Chicago Cop Who Quit Force After Shooting and Killing Rekia Boyd Wants All Evidence of His Criminal Case Erased
The then off-duty Chicago cop who fired his gun out of his car window, striking and killing Rekia Boyd, an innocent bystander, now wants all evidence of the criminal case filed against him cleared from the public record. Even though Dante Servin got off scot-free on charges of involuntary manslaughter when a Chicago judge threw…
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If You Love Me, Do Not Call the Police
I do not want to die. Because I am far from infallible, I am willing to concede the slight possibility that there exists a scenario in which I may benefit from the presence of the police. Even though I’ve tried to imagine such a situation doesn’t exist, I admit that I may have overlooked some hypothetical…
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There Are No Good Apples
It was somewhat disconcerting for my cousin, a cop in Washington, D.C., to attend my book event at Politics and Prose in March. Not really for me, since I knew he was coming. But when he walked in towards the end of my talk—in full vested, booted and armed cop gear—the atmosphere shifted, and I…
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#AtatianaJefferson: A List of Questions That Need Answers From Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus
The Fort Worth Police Department and its police chief, Ed Kraus, have a lot of explaining to do as it pertains to the senseless killing of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her mother’s home early Saturday morning. A neighbor, James Smith, said he called a police non-emergency number when he noticed that the front door was…
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Blow the Whistle: Black Woman State Trooper Files Explosive Discrimination Lawsuit in Michigan, Exposing Police Brutality
A now-retired Michigan State Trooper is a whistleblower in an explosive lawsuit that reveals a history of racial discrimination and police brutality in her department. First Lt. Twana Powell, who led the internal affairs division for the Michigan State Police, exited her job last year—but she isn’t going quietly. “MSP suffers from a pattern of…
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18-Year-Old Brandt Jean’s Hug of Amber Guyger Made Me Sick. But It Ain’t About Me, Though
The conversation about Brandt Jean’s hug of convicted murderer Amber Guyger has mostly cannibalized both the news of the (still surprising) conviction and the (not surprising at all) sentence. The image of the act is both explosive and saccharine; a molotov cocktail dipped in high fructose corn syrup. It’s impossible to see that and not…
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Botham Jean, Amber Guyger and the Delusion of Forgiveness
It was described as “stunning,” “rare,” and “inspirational”: Brandt Jean, the younger brother of Botham Jean, killed last year at the hands of a Dallas police officer who mistakenly walked into his apartment, asking his brother’s killer if he could hug her. “I love you as a person,” Jean, who had been delivering his victim…
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Texas Jury Finds Amber Guyger Guilty of Murder
After less than 24 hours of deliberation, a 12-person jury has found ex-Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger guilty of murdering her neighbor, 26-year-old Botham Jean. Jean was unarmed and eating a bowl of ice cream in his apartment when Guyger, off-duty but in uniform, barged into his home and fatally shot him on Sept. 6,…
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Mississippi Police Shot a Bullet Into the Back of His Head. A City Attorney Is Arguing It Doesn’t Matter Since He’s Not a Citizen
Mississippi police should have never been at Ismael Lopez’s door. But in executing a warrant for a man wanted for domestic assault in July 2017, police went to the wrong address, arriving at Lopez’s home instead of the suspect’s. Lopez would not survive the encounter with police, who never announced themselves at the door. He…
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Trump Is ‘Last Hope’ for White People, Says Ex-NJ Police Chief on Trial for Bashing Black Teen’s Head Into Door
A potential movie titled The Hate White Hope may be apropos for Poor POTUS after all. When it comes to hate and evil wypipo, Donald Trump is these folks’ reigning champ. So believes former Bordentown, N.J., police chief Frank Nucera Jr., who is being tried on federal hate-crime assault charges. In a transcript disclosed at…