Minnesota AG, Keith Ellison says black residents have reason to fear police

During a Fox News interview Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison supported protesters in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and said black people have reason to fear Minneapolis police

“There is a history that has been repeated time and time again,” he said. “I want to say that many officers are great people. I know so many of them and I think the chief is an extraordinary person, and the mayor and the council deserve a lot of credit for appointing Mr. [Medaria] Arradondo. But it is an endemic problem in the Minneapolis Police Department.”

Ellison said that at least some of the blame for the problems rests with Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, who he claimed “undermines good order in the department.”

Philando Castile Charity Covers Entire School District's Lunch Debt

Two years after he was fatally shot by a police officer in Minnesota, Philando Castile is still helping students afford lunch.

A charity created in Castile’s honor has paid off the lunch debt for every student in the 56 schools in the St. Paul Public School District, including the school where Castile worked as a cafeteria supervisor.

“That means no parent of the 37,000 kids who eat meals at school need worry about how to pay that overdue debt,” a charity organizer wrote on the “Philando Feeds the Children” fundraising page.

Castile had worked as a cafeteria supervisor at the J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in St. Paul for two years at the time he was killed.

Pam Fergus, an educator who launched the charity, told CNN she delivered a $35,000 check to the St. Paul Public School District this week. The charity, which had an original goal of raising $5,000, now has more than $117,000 in donations, according to the YouCaring page. The funds will continue to pay for student lunches “for years to come,” Fergus wrote in a fundraising update.

Read more: Philando Castile Charity Covers Entire School District's Lunch Debt

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:

Officer charged with manslaughter in Philando Castile killing

The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in July was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.

St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez will make his first court appearance Friday, Choi said.

"Based upon our thorough and exhaustive review of the facts of the case it is my conclusion that the use of deadly force ... was not justified," Choi said in announcing the charges.

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NBA Superstars Speak on Black Lives, Police, & Violence at the 2016 ESPYs

Watch Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade & LeBron James opening powerful tribute to unarmed black men shot dead at the hands of police, and violence in general at the ESPYS.

Rep. Keith Ellison: Arrest the Officer Who Killed Philando Castile

Rep. Keith Ellison has joined the call for the arrest of the officer who killed Philando Castile during an interview with Democracy Now. Watch that interview segment below.

To black police officers: Keep Your Head Up

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports EMAIL
I dedicate this to the brave black men and women who serve as police officers. I know that right know your jobs and to a certain extent just living your life is not an easy thing to do right now.

I am not a police officer, but as a black man elected to my local school board, I know how it can feel when it seems like your own people are against you. What I had to learn is that it wasn't that they were necessarily against me but that they were passionately advocating for their children and because I look like them they RIGHTFULLY expected more from me. Sometimes that can seem unfair, but we have to keep in mind that when we are in positions of authority and responsibility that we have to walk that delicate balance between treating all fairly and at the same time trying to fix the social ills that befall many in the black community. At times your won may not understand why you have to walk that fine line, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY DON'T LOVE AND RESPECT YOU.

I know I and many others respect the work you do and love the reason many of our black brothers and sisters became cops. You did it to give back and to make your communities better. You bravely chose to do a job that few can and that even fewer including myself would want to do. Some joined to help changed a flawed system from the inside. I know that you at times have to face the worst in humanity to protect us all, I love and respect you for that. And trust me it's not only me but millions of others feel the same.

I know that you walk a fine line between working to change the culture of many police departments while at the same time working to change that culture. I know that it's not easy and can make you feel like you are just slamming your head into a wall. But no fight for systemic change is easy, and it takes strong people like you to take up that fight.

In many ways you exemplify the best in humanity especially when it comes to bravery and compassion and are to be commended. But with that come being held to a higher standard that may at times seem unfair but one you will have to and will deal with because you are more than capable of doing that to make things better for both cops and minority communities.

So to my black police officers, Keep ya Head Up!

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Pres. Obama defends Black Lives Matter movement right to protest

While on a trip to Spain, President Obama made the following statement concerning the right of the Black Lives Matter movement to protest.

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Carmelo Anthony ask athletes to speak and demand change

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Dallas that left five law enforcement officers dead, New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony took to social media Friday morning to ask athletes to "step up" and "demand change" without resorting to violence. Read his post below.

First off let me start off by saying " All Praise Due To The Most High." Secondly, I'm all about rallying, protesting, fighting for OUR people. Look I'll even lead the charge, By Any Means Necessary. We have to be smart about what we are doing though. We need to steer our anger in the right direction. The system is Broken. Point blank period. It has been this way forever. Martin Luther King marched. Malcolm X rebelled. Muhammad Ali literally fought for US. Our anger should be towards the system. If the system doesn't change we will continue to turn on the TVs and see the same thing. We have to put the pressure on the people in charge in order to get this thing we call JUSTICE right. A march doesn't work. We tried that. I've tried that. A couple social media post/tweet doesn't work. We've all tried that. That didn't work. Shooting 11 cops and killing 5 WILL NOT work. While I don't have a solution, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't have a solution, we need to come together more than anything at this time. We need each other. These politicians have to step up and fight for change. I'm calling for all my fellow ATHLETES to step up and take charge. Go to your local officials, leaders, congressman, assemblymen/assemblywoman and demand change. There's NO more sitting back and being afraid of tackling and addressing political issues anymore. Those days are long gone. We have to step up and take charge. We can't worry about what endorsements we gonna lose or whose going to look at us crazy. I need your voices to be heard. We can demand change. We just have to be willing to. THE TIME IS NOW. IM all in. Take Charge. Take Action. DEMAND CHANGE. Peace7 #StayMe7o

A photo posted by @carmeloanthony on Jul 8, 2016 at 8:02am PDT

Black Lives Matter doesn't make black people dislike cops, bad cops do.

By George L. Cook III [EMAIL]

After the tragic shooting in Dallas of 11 police officers, 5 of whom dead there were those who jumped at the chance to blame BLM (Black Lives Matter). Some going as far as to say the shooters were BLM members which we now know is false.

But even those who didn't go that far keep pushing the idea that it's BLM's anti-police rhetoric that leads to the hate of police in minority communities. Now President Obama and the likes of Al Sharpton have also been blamed for ginning up anti-police feelings.

If you subscribe to that theory, then you must believe that millions of black men enjoyed their mistreatment, harassment, and belittling, at the hands of police and didn't think to be upset until someone told them to do so. Cause you know, black people never think of anything on their own.

Newsflash!

Black men and their communities don't need any group or individual to tell them to mistrust or dislike the police, bad cops are doing a great job of making sure that happens. Decades of abusive police patrolling black and brown neighborhoods leads to decades more of hate and mistrust toward the police, even the good ones. Many young black boys grow up wanting to be cops until they are mistreated themselves or see an older family member harassed by the police. They now view people they once saw as heroes as a threat and not someone to run to for help. That's not the fault of BLM at all.

Almost every black man can tell you of a police encounter where they feared they might die or get arrested for doing nothing wrong. I remember one of the times I was stopped for no reason. I was home on leave from the US Army and a cop pulling me over because he thought I didn't belong in "his"town. He, of course, used the old tried and true excuse of there being a B&E and my car matching the description as a reason for the stop. He went off on a tangent about how I should get a job and do something with my life without knowing who I was at all as three more police cars pulled up around me. How do you think I felt seeing that? After running my license (for 30 minutes, LOL) and seeing I was clean, the officer was obviously upset and told me he was letting me go although I hadn't done anything, to begin with for him to have to let me go. No apology, no I'm sorry for the inconvenience or anything, he just handing me back my papers and walked off. My distrust of the police is no fault of BLM.

All black men know that whether in a sweat suit or a business suit any mundane encounter with the police can be their last. How do you think that makes a black man feel toward police. That again is not the fault of BLM.

Trust and respect are earned not given. When ALL police treat everyone with dignity, politeness, and respect that they afford white Americans, then they will be viewed and treated differently. Police have to remember that you get back what you put out. So if you want to act as an occupying force, you will be handed like one.

To be clear I am talking about bad cops here who abuse the right to wear a badge, not those that truly act like all lives matter. If all police behaved that way groups like Black Lives Matter would not exist.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.Com

Elijah Cummings Ask FBI Director To Do Something About Police Killings

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) made a surprisingly personal plea to FBI director James Comey to do more to break the pattern of police officers killing black men. Watch his plea below.

Pres. Obama Statement On Shootings Of Alton Sterling And Philando Castile

President Obama has released a statement on the shooting deaths of both Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers. Read President Obama's statement below.