By Rashad Shabazz, Arizona State University Once again, Americans are left reeling from the horror of video footage showing police brutalizing an unarmed Black man who later died. Some details in the latest case of extreme police violence were gut-wrenchingly familiar: a police traffic stop of a Black male motorist…
Nearly Half of All Sheriffs in Louisiana Are Violating Public Records Laws
UNWATCHED A Louisiana Law Department That Polices Itself This story was originally published by ProPublica. By Richard A. Webster, Verite ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Nearly half of Louisiana sheriffs are in…
When Gun Violence Ends Young Lives, These Men Prepare the Graves
By Cara Anthony January 30, 2023 MILLSTADT, Ill. — It was a late Friday afternoon when a team of men approached a tiny pink casket. One wiped his brow. Another stepped away to smoke a cigarette. Then, with calloused hands, they gently lowered the child’s body into the ground. Earlier…
A Sheriff in Louisiana Has Been Destroying Records of Deputies’ Alleged Misconduct for Years
UNWATCHED A Louisiana Law Department That Polices Itself This story was originally published by ProPublica. By Richard A. Webster, Verite ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana…
Kansas City police accused of ignoring warnings about possible serial killer after Black woman escapes captor
The Kansas City Police Department in Missouri is under scrutiny after a Black woman escaped her alleged captor, and at least two other Black women were found dead following warnings from the community about a possible serial killer on the loose. On Oct. 7, a 22-year-old Black woman, only identified…
Community outraged after White man in Wisconsin grabs young Black man by neck who he accused of theft
A White man was caught on video grabbing a young Black man by the neck after accusing him of stealing a bicycle, sparking outrage in the community. In the video, another Black man can be seen trying to get someone to come to the young man’s aide and asking the…
Police searching for suspect who hit Black cyclist with truck, yelled racial slur in California Bay Area
Police are reportedly investigating a suspected hate crime after a man yelled a racial slur at a Black cyclist and hit him with his truck in Palo Alto. Police said the incident happened Sept. 29 around 5:30 p.m. in the downtown area when the cyclist briefly entered the street while…
Students outraged after video shows police arrest Black man on university campus in Texas
Many students expressed outrage after video circulated showing police at the University of North Texas in Denton arrest a young Black man for allegedly trespassing at a job fair. Video of the incident went viral after it was posted on Twitter on Wednesday. University police replied to the tweet with…
Black pastor files lawsuit after he was arrested while watering neighbor’s flowers in Alabama
A Black pastor in Alabama has reportedly filed a federal lawsuit after he was arrested in May by white police officers while he was watering the flowers of a neighbor who was out of town. In the lawsuit filed on Friday, Michael Jennings, 56, alleged the encounter with police and…
Report: Names of hundreds of high-ranking law enforcement and elected officials documented in leaked Oath Keepers list
A report released on Wednesday revealed hundreds of names of high-ranking law enforcement officers, military service members and elected officials in leaked membership documentation belonging to Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism sifted through more than 38,000 names on the leaked document and identified…
Atlanta Popeyes calls police on woman trying to buy food for homeless man
A college student says employees at a Popeyes in Atlanta of calling the police on her after she tried to buy food for a homeless man. Jo Ortega, a Georgia State University student, recorded the ordeal on her cellphone when she was picking up a DoorDash order. She noticed a…
Poll: Only 3% of Black Americans say Blacks do not experience discrimination in the US
A new poll released today by Pew Research Center revealed glum outlooks on racial equality and life in the U.S. The results showed more than two thirds of Black Americans say racism is still a prevalent issue that stimies there progress in the U.S. The poll was conducted online in…
Deputy in Florida resigns after aggressive traffic stop, handcuffing pregnant Black woman
A deputy in Florida has reportedly resigned after handcuffing a pregnant Black woman during a traffic stop earlier this month that was caught on video. Ebony Washington said she was driving home from Gainesville with her three children in the vehicle around midnight when the family was pulled over, reported…
Utah officer caught on video playing games, scrolling through TikTok as Black man he refused to help bled to death
A police officer in Utah was reportedly caught on bodycam video scrolling through TikTok and playing games after he refused to help a Black man bleeding from stab wounds. Salt Lake City Police Officer Ian Anderson responded to an emergency call on November 13, 2020 and found 39-year-old Ryan Outlaw…
Georgia cops suspended after one is heard on home security camera using n-word
Six police officers in Georgia were put on administrative leave after one officer was reportedly caught on a home security camera saying the n-word. Officers with West Point Police Department are seen moving around the house porch talking about the homeowner’s son on Aug. 7. As the officers were speaking,…
Florida man arrested weeks after video showed him pulling rifle on Black landscaper
A Florida man was arrested after he allegedly pointed an assault rifle at a Black landscaper in an incident caught on camera last month. In a Facebook post, Clearwater Police Department identified the suspect as 44-year-old David H. Berry, 44. The landscaper was allegedly threated after the suspect accused him…
Social media model charged with killing boyfriend — 4 months after his death
An Instagram and OnlyFans model was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge, four months after allegedly fatally stabbing her boyfriend in the chest at their luxury apartment in Miami. Courtney Clenney was taken into custody while at a rehab facility in Hawaii, where she was reportedly receiving treatment for substance…
Brianna Grier’s brain shifted in her skull after suffering blunt force trauma during arrest, expert says
An independent review of medical records for Brianna Grier indicated the young Black mother died of blunt force trauma to the head some time after she was arrested by police. The review was requested by Grier’s parents, who are being represented by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. The analysis was…
Small police department in Alabama disbanded after racist text messages uncovered
City officials in the small Alabama town of Vincent voted to disband its police department after it was learned that two officers exchanged racist text messages. A copy of the text messages were shared on social media. In the short exchange, someone named “752” asked: “What do y’all call a…
Massachusetts police sued after allegedly arresting innocent Black man during pursuit of White suspect
A Massachusetts police department accused of wrongful arrest is reportedly facing a lawsuit after a young Black man was handcuffed and detained when police were chasing a White suspect. Donovan Johnson alleged in a federal civil rights lawsuit that a White police officer in Arlington, a Boston suburb, grabbed him,…