Showing posts with label #BlackLivesMatter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #BlackLivesMatter. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Breonna Taylor case being presented to a grand jury

A grand jury has been empaneled to investigate the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, two people close to the process told CNN.

The grand jury, which was empaneled this week, "will be hearing other criminal cases first to get their feet wet with the process and then hear the Taylor case," a source close to the investigation told CNN on Wednesday.

Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT and aspiring nurse, was fatally shot after police broke down the door to her apartment while executing a late-night "no-knock" warrant in a narcotics investigation on March 13.

The source told CNN that the grand jury is meeting at an alternate location because of safety concerns due to ongoing protests in Jefferson Square Park, which has been informally renamed as "Breonna Taylor Park."

The grand jury is expected to eventually decide the fate of three officers who opened fire during the incident.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

LeBron James speaks on Jacob Blake shooting

LeBron James sternly conveys his feelings about the fear that is lingering in the Black community and tells the media why he has nothing nice to say about the police who shot Jacob Blake.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Lakers wear hats to keep attention on Breonna Taylor case

The Los Angeles Lakers arrived to Game 1 of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night in red baseball caps, only with a twist.

Each cap had "Make America Great Again" stitched in white letters, just like the one President Donald Trump often wears; but the words "Great Again" were crossed out, and the message "Arrest The Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor" was printed below them.

"You know, this is something that we continue to put our foot on the gas, continue to pressure," LeBron James said after the Lakers' 100-93 loss. "You know, the situation that's going on in Louisville, Kentucky. An innocent woman being killed in Breonna Taylor, a woman who had a bright future and her future was taken away from her. And there's been no arrests. There's been no justice. Not only for her, but for her family. And we want to continue to shed light on that situation, because it's just unjust, and that's what it's about."

It was a continuation of the calls for awareness about the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death made by the Lakers and many other players since the NBA invited 22 teams to Orlando, Florida, to restart its season last month.

[SOURCE: ESPN]

Monday, June 29, 2020

NBA plans to paint 'Black Lives Matter' on courts in Orlando

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are planning to paint "Black Lives Matter" on the court inside both sidelines in all three arenas the league will use at the Walt Disney World Resort when it resumes the 2019-20 season late next month in Orlando, Florida, league sources told ESPN.

Players have insisted that the fight for racial equality and social justice be a central part of the NBA's return.

On a conference call with reporters Friday, leaders of both the NBA and the NBPA said the league and union were discussing several ways to use the NBA's platform in Orlando to call attention to racial equality, social justice and police brutality. Over the weekend, Chris Paul, president of the players' union, told ESPN that the league and union were collaborating to allow players to wear uniforms with personalized messages linked to social justice on the backs of their jerseys in place of players' last names.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Monday, June 08, 2020

John Lewis visits Black Lives Matter Plaza

Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) met with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and paid a visit to the site where the mayor had “Black Lives Matter” painted on a road that leads to the White House.

Wednesday, June 03, 2020

Ferguson Elects Its First Black Mayor

The Missouri city where the death of Michael Brown set off weeks of nationwide protests and outrage in 2014 elected its first woman and first black mayor Tuesday night, according to CNN affiliate KMOV.

Returns from the St. Louis County Board of Elections show Ella Jones took 54% of the vote in the race for mayor of Ferguson versus Heather Robinett with 46%.

Jones is both the city's first black mayor and the first woman in that office, according to KMOV. Jones has worked as a chemist and church pastor, according to her campaign biography. She has served on the Ferguson city council since 2015, when she was elected as its first African-American member.

[SOURCES: CNN]

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Kamala Harris on death of George Floyd: This was a public execution

During a town hall meeting on Univision Kamala Harris called Floyd’s death a “public execution” and demanded a “federal investigation into civil rights abuses.”

Colin Kaepernick reacts to the death of George Floyd

Colin Kaepernick took to social media to react to the death of George Floyd, and the violent protests that came in the days after Floyd's murder.

This was Kaepernick's first comments since Floyd died in an officer-involved incident in Minneapolis on Monday. Video released from the arrest showed an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck while he screamed he couldn’t breathe.

Friday, March 23, 2018

Protesters throughout Sacramento after Stephon Clark shooting

Protests erupted in Sacramento four days after Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man was shot by police in his grandmother's backyard. Demonstrators delayed the start of an NBA game as well as blocked entrance to an interstate highway.

Protesters block NBA arena over fatal Sacramento police shooting.

Demonstrators blocked the entrance to an arena where an NBA game was scheduled Thursday, chanting "Black Lives Matter" and the name of the 22-year-old who was killed.

Most ticketholders weren't able to get inside, and the Sacramento Police said via Twitter that "no one else will be admitted to the #SacKings game."

Outside the arena, protesters linked arms and chanted at fans, "Join us or go home!"

The NBA and the Kings made the decision to close the doors, Sgt. Vance Chandler of the Sacramento Police Department told CNN. The game started with a delay and the team said it would refund the tickets.

Protesters began to disperse at night, and police made no arrests.

[SOURCE]

Protesters of police shooting shut down I-5 and block entry to Sacramento Kings game.

A dramatic day of protest Thursday over the shooting of Stephon Clark a young unarmed black man began at Sacramento City Hall, shut down Interstate 5 during rush hour.

The protest snarled traffic around central city freeways, with cars backed up nearly a mile south on I-5 toward Sutterville Road and on the westbound W/X freeway.

Around 5:30 p.m., southbound lanes reopened. It took another 30-plus minutes for protesters to leave northbound lanes. [SOURCE]

Demonstrators gather at Sacramento City Hall to protest fatal shooting of unarmed man.

Demonstrators in Sacramento, California, gathered Thursday evening to protest the death of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, who was killed in his grandmother's backyard over the weekend after two police officers fired 20 shots at him.

A crowd of people went to Sacramento's City Hall, chanting phrases like "Stand up, fight back" and "No justice, no peace."

Black Lives Matter Sacramento is hosting the demonstration, according to the Facebook event titled "Turn Up - for [Stephon] Clark!"

"We are tired of Sacramento law enforcement killing us!" the event description reads. "We are tired of talking and meeting and sitting trying to convince our elected officials that there needs to be change!"[SOURCE]

Monday, June 19, 2017

Seattle Police release dashcam audio in shooting of Charleena Lyles

Her name was Charleena Lyles. She called 911 for help and was killed by those officers who arrived to "protect and serve".

Charleena Lyles a pregnant mother of four was gunned down at her own home after calling 911 due to a burglary. Police claim she had a knife and was coming at them. To back up their claims they released dash cam audio, but that audio shows that those same officers knew she had four kids who may be in the house and that she suffered from mental illness before entering the home. The audio has been redacted by Seattle Police in some places, listen to the audio below.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Statement from Philando Castile's mother on jury's verdict


Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year, was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter Friday. He also was acquitted of two counts of intentional discharge of firearm that endangers safety. Philando Castile's mother, Valerie Castile does not mince words when discussing the non-guilty verdict of her son's killer when making statement to the press. Watch that statement below:


Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Michael Slager pleads guilty in shooting death of Walter Scott

HIS NAME IS WALTER SCOTT. In a case that has been under the radar the police officer who murdered Walter Scott has taken a plea to federal charges against him. This wont bring Walter Scott back but Slager wont be on the street to kill anyone else for awhile. George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com.

In a plea deal with prosecutors, former South Carolina police officer Michael Slager admitted to using excessive force in the 2015 shooting death of Walter Scott.

Slager shot Scott in the back as the unarmed man was running away from Slager after a traffic stop. In a reversal from his previous account, Slager admitted in court Tuesday that he did not shoot Scott in self-defense and said that his use of force was unreasonable.

With his family and Scott's family present, Slager pleaded guilty Tuesday in US District Court in Charleston to a federal charge of deprivation of rights under the color of law. In exchange for the plea, state murder charges, as well as two other federal charges, will be dismissed.

The civil rights offense has a maximum penalty of life in prison. The plea agreement states that the government will ask the court to apply sentencing guidelines for second degree murder, which carries up to 25 years in prison. He was taken into custody after the hearing and will remain there until sentencing later this year.

Scott's mother said the sentence mattered little to her now that Slager had admitted responsibility.

"What made me feel good about it is that Michael Slager admitted what he did. That was enough years for me," she said in response to the question how much time she wanted Slager to serve.

"No matter how many years Michael Slager gets, it would not bring back my son," she said. "This is a victory for Walter. This is justice for the family, but this is just the beginning."

[SOURCE: CNN]

Tuesday, May 02, 2017

Police Account Changes in Killing of Jordan Edwards


HIS NAME IS JORDAN EDWARDS! Thank God for the body cams on the police officers involved in the murder of Jordan Edwards. The officers had fabricated a story about the car coming at them and were going to paint Jordan Edwards,an honor student, his brother, and his friends as thugs and the aggressors. We now know that that story is false and the boys had not been drinking. Well lets see if Trump comments at all or at least ask his "Justice" department to look at the case. George L. Cook III African American Reports.

As family and friends mourned the death of a 15-year-old boy shot in the head by a police officer in a Dallas suburb over the weekend, the police chief said Monday that new evidence showed the killing did not unfold the way the authorities had originally claimed.

The Police Department in Balch Springs, Tex., said Sunday that the officer, whose name has not been released, fired on a car carrying the teenager, Jordan Edwards, a freshman at Mesquite High School in Balch Springs, because the car was reversing down a street toward the officer in an “aggressive manner.”

But Jonathan Haber, the police chief, told reporters at a news conference on Monday afternoon that video showed the opposite. He said the officer fired when the car was “moving forward as the officers approached,” according to The Associated Press. The Dallas County medical examiner’s report ruled the death a homicide caused by a “rifle wound” to the head.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the Edwards family, praised the police chief for his willingness to admit the department’s mistake and called the new account “a big deal.”

Read more: Police Account Changes in Killing of Texas 15-Year-Old


Tuesday, March 28, 2017

New charges against Chicago cop in Laquan McDonald shooting

Chicago police officer already facing first-degree murder charges for the controversial shooting of a black teen will face an additional 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, a special prosecutor announced Thursday.

The new grand jury indictment brings to 23 the number of felony charges against officer Jason Van Dyke, previously charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct for the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The special prosecutor, Joseph McMahon, announced the additional charges during a status hearing for Van Dyke on Thursday.

Read more: New charges against Chicago cop in Laquan McDonald shooting

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Feds revive probe of Eric Garner chokehold death

The feds have revived the grand jury probe into the NYPD chokehold death of Eric Garner — and a police witness who was questioned in front of the panel believes an indictment is looming, sources told The New York Post on Thursday.

A high-ranking NYPD official and a sergeant testified behind closed doors in the Brooklyn federal courthouse on Wednesday after being slapped with subpoenas, sources said.

Revelation of their appearances before the grand jury marks the first sign that the US Justice Department hasn’t abandoned the racially charged case since the inauguration of President Trump and the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Read more: Feds revive probe of Eric Garner chokehold death

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Cleveland police dispatcher in Tamir Rice shooting suspended 8 days


A Cleveland police dispatcher was suspended for eight days for failing to warn officers in the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice that a 911 caller had described the scene as probably a child with a fake gun, the boy's family lawyer said on Wednesday.
Reports of the suspension published in Cleveland on Tuesday led to criticism of authorities on social media under the Twitter hashtag #TamirRice, including "8 days suspension? How pathetic" and "the 911 dispatcher whose words lead to the terrible death of tamir rice, an INNOCENT 12 year old, should be FIRED, not simply suspended."
The shooting of the black child, who was playing with a replica gun that fired plastic pellets, by two white police officers was one of several that fueled scrutiny of police use of deadly force across the United States, particularly against minorities.
The family's lawyer Subodh Chandra said the dispatcher, Constance Hollinger, also received a disciplinary letter after a 10-month investigation that ended in February. An off-duty officer at the scene, William Cunningham II, was suspended for two days without pay.
Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother, has urged that anyone involved in the shooting be fired and Chandra said the mother considered Hollinger's eight day suspension without pay “unacceptable.”
Chandra publicly released a March 6 letter about the city's decision on Tuesday evening.
City and police union officials confirmed the letter's legitimacy.
The attorney for Hollinger, Keith Wolgamuth, could not be reached to comment.

Read more: Cleveland police dispatcher in Tamir Rice shooting suspended 8 days


Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Black people, if black lives matter then we have to stop ducking jury duty.

If we are really tired of police officers always being acquitted by juries after killing unarmed black men then we as black people have to stop ducking jury duty and serve on these juries. Listen to more below.

Saturday, December 03, 2016

How one juror is holding up a verdict in the Michael Slager trial

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Many in the black community had doubts that Michael Slager would be convicted of murdering Walter Scott even before the trial started. Those doubts were only magnified when a predominantly white jury was picked with only the jury foreman being African American. It turns out that those suspicions may be well founded.

A video clearly shows Walter Scott running way and being shot five times in the back. That same video shows Slager planting a taser by Scott's body. And on top of that, the North Charleston police department fired him for using excessive force. In spite of all that one lone white juror refuses to convict him of either manslaughter or murder.

What's very sad is that the juror is not saying that Slager is not guilty, and even refers to him as a killer but that he can't and won't convict him under any circumstances.

In an unusual move the juror bypassed the jury foreman sent a letter directly to the judge in the case, Judge Newman stating why he could not and would not convict.

Newman read the letter to the court in which the juror wrote:

"I can’t in good conscience approve a guilty verdict”.

“I regret to say we may never reach a unanimous decision,”

“We all struggle with the death of a man,” the juror continued. “My heart does not want to have to tell the Scott family that the man who killed their son, brother and father is innocent. But with choices, I cannot and will not change my mind.”

Judge Newman has instructed the jury to come back on Monday and to resume deliberations. If the jury can come to no verdict, the judge has said that he would declare a mistrial. Unfortunately, that looks like where we are headed.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Unarmed 15 year old black teen killed by white man who claims he felt threatened

On this past Monday evening, outside of a Dollar General Store in Charleston, West Virginia, 15-year-old James Means, was shot and killed by William Ronald Pulliam, 62, police said.

Witnesses claim that what set Pulliam off was that Means accidentally bumped into him while entering the store.

After Pulliam left the store, the two exchanged words a second time, and Pulliam shot the teen twice in the abdomen, leaving him to die, then proceeded to go home, eat dinner, then go hang out at a friend's house, according to a criminal complaint.

After Pulliam's arrest on Tuesday morning, police said that he expressed no remorse whatsoever for killing the teen, but simply said, "The way I look at it, that's another piece of trash off the street." [SOURCE]

Pulliam was arraigned on the murder charge Tuesday morning via video from South Central Regional Jail before Kanawha County Magistrate Ward Harshbarger.

The 62-year-old man accused of shooting and killing an unarmed teenager on Charleston’s East End Monday night was not allowed to have a gun, because of a previous domestic violence conviction. Charleston police asked federal authorities to determine if the killing meets the definition of a hate crime. Pulliam is white and Means was black. [SOURCE]

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Protests erupt after black man killed in officer-involved shooting in Charlotte

Police say a person was shot and killed in northeast Charlotte on Tuesday by a police officer, sparking protests, CBS affiliate WBTV reported.

Following the shooting, a large crowd has gathered near the scene in protest.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. at an apartment complex. Officers said they were searching for a person with an outstanding warrant when they saw a person get out of a vehicle with a firearm. The man has since been identified as 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.

When the person got back into the vehicle, the officers approached. The report states that the person then got back out of the vehicle “armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject.”

The officers said they immediately requested MEDIC and began performing CPR, WBTV reported. The person was pronounced dead at the hospital.

WBTV reported that by 9 p.m., large crowds had gathered in the area of the shooting. Some were shouting at police, some held signs that read “Black Lives Matter” and “It Was A Book.” It appeared at one point the crowds were blocking patrol cars from moving in the street, and even climbing on top of them, according to WBTV.

At 11 p.m. large clouds of what appeared to be tear gas could be seen coming from the crowds of protesters after officers in riot gear were seen putting on gas masks.

Read more: Protests erupt after man killed in officer-involved shooting in Charlotte