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police brutality

#BlackLivesMatter Camps At Police Station For 2 Weeks

By Tamara Khandaker for Vice News - Any discussion of anti-black racism in Toronto, much to the frustration of many black Canadians, commonly elicits one response — that it's not as bad as it is in the United States. Patrisse Cullors, LA-based activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM), said she didn't even know Canada had issues until she met her husband Janaya Khan, a co-founder of the Toronto chapter of the growing, international movement. It's the only active branch outside of the United States.

Police Station Attacked During Anti-Police Brutality Protest

By Staff of RT - A demonstration against police brutality in Montreal, Canada, led to cars being set alight in the streets and a police station being attacked. The protest was sparked by the death of a black man who was killed by a police rubber bullet last monthThe Wednesday demonstration was initially organized as a peaceful protest in response to the death of Jean-Pierre Bony, 46, who was shot by a police rubber bullet during a drug raid in March. He later died of his injuries.

Coal Protesters Shot By Police, 4 Killed

By Samantha Page for Think Progress - Bangladeshi police opened fire on a group of protestors Monday, killing at least four, according to local news reports. Thousands of people were charged with assault and vandalism in connection with the demonstration against Chinese-financed coal plants on the country’s southeast coast. “We demand an immediate, full and independent inquiry into yesterday’s events to hold those responsible to account for the unnecessary murder of at least four people,” two Bangladeshi groups, National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, said in an emailed statement.

No Charges Against Minneapolis Police Officers In Jamar Clark Shooting

By Erin Golden, Paul Walsh and David Chanen for Star Tribune - The two Minneapolis police officers involved in the November shooting death of Jamar Clark will not face criminal charges, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Wednesday, as he released volumes of evidence that he said prove the officers feared for their lives during the 61-second altercation. Freeman said DNA and other evidence collected after the shooting on a north Minneapolis street show that Clark was not handcuffed during a scuffle with police officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, and that Clark had grabbed for Ringgenberg’s gun after the officer tackled him to the ground.

Police Kill Navajo Woman Allegedly Armed With Scissors

By Alysa Landry for Indian Country Today. Winslow, AZ - A Navajo woman was shot and killed by police on Easter Sunday after apparently threatening an officer with a weapon in Winslow, Arizona. Loreal Juana Barnell-Tsingine, 27, was shot five times after an altercation that began with a shoplifting call at a Circle K at around 4 p.m. Officers located a woman matching the description of the suspect a few blocks away from the convenience store and a struggle ensued. An officer, who has not been identified by name, said Tsingine displayed a weapon that posed a “substantial threat.” Police have not divulged what the weapon was, though family members claim Tsingine was armed only with a pair of scissors. “While attempting to take the subject into custody, a struggle ensued,” the Winslow Police Department states in a press release.

4 Years Since Chicago Police Officer Killed Rekia Boyd

By Mariame Kaba for In These Times - The fact that Rekia Boyd’s name might be familiar to you is a testament to her family and local Chicago activists’ persistent and effective organizing. Today marks four years since detective Dante Servin killed Rekia in the North Lawndale neighborhood. She was unarmed and hanging out with friends when Servin shot her in the head. He was off-duty and carrying an unregistered gun at the time. Servin is the very rare police officer who was actually tried for the extrajudicial killing of an unarmed Black person.

Austin Police Officer Caught On Video Pepper-Spraying Handcuffed Man

By Ed Mazza for The Huffington Post - The Austin Police Department has launched an investigation following the release of a video that shows an officer apparently pepper-spraying a handcuffed suspect. The video, posted on YouTube by local police watchdog group Peaceful Streets Project, shows an officer opening the door to the back of a police van last week during the South by Southwest Festival. “What’d I tell you about kicking the door?” the officer says to the subject inside.

Rally At Police Stations Demands Independent Oversight Over CPD

By Staff of CBS - CHICAGO — Protesters against police violence staged demonstrations at all 22 police district stations in Chicago. As CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley reports, protesters demanded truly independent oversight of police. Marching directly from Palm Sunday Mass at St. Agatha Church, about 50 demonstrators sang their way right into the Ogden District Station. “As children are accountable and people of faith are accountable, then our police need to be accountable for their behavior,” said St. Agatha’s parishioner Sharaya Tindal.

Trooper Pleads Guilty To Shooting Black Man Who Followed His Orders

By Thandisizwe Chimurenga for Daily Kos - Sean Groubert, a former South Carolina state trooper, has pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature for the shooting of Levar Jones at a Columbia gas station in September of 2014. Video from Groubert’s patrol car went viral at a time of heightened scrutiny and anxiety of police executions of unarmed African Americans—immediately after the murders of Mike Brown in Ferguson, John Crawford in Ohio and Eric Garner in New York and just prior to the murder of Tamir Rice in Cleveland and the non-indictment of Darren Wilson for Brown’s murder.

Two Prosecutors Who Poorly Handled Police Who Killed Blacks Defeated

By Jon Swaine for The Guardian - The protest movement that formed in response to deadly shootings of African Americans by police won a remarkable series of political victories in the American midwest on Wednesday night, including its first oustings of prosecutors in major cities. In successive upsets, Democratic primary challengers in Chicago, Illinois, and Cleveland, Ohio, wrested the party’s nomination from sitting prosecutors who came under sharp criticism for their handling of the fatal shootings of Laquan McDonald and Tamir Rice.

LA Police Commission: De-Escalate, Stop The Killing

By Thandisizwe Chimurenga for Daily Kos - Members of Los Angeles’ Police Commission have called for “significant” changes regarding the use of deadly force by the city’s cops. According to a new report, they want to make sure that Los Angeles Police Department officers did all they could in the past to de-escalate tense situations, and they want to urge the city’s cops to do all that they can in the future to de-escalate before they have to use significant force. Yes, that sounds like common sense.

The End Of Discriminatory Policing In Ferguson?

By J. Weston Phippen for The Atlantic - The Ferguson, Missouri, City Council reversed its previous position and voted Tuesday night to accept the changes to its courts and police departments that were recommended by the U.S. Justice Department in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a police officer. The council voted unanimously, 6-to-0, to accept the Justice Department’s changes, and likely spared itself from an expensive legal battle.

Police Beating That Opened America’s Eyes To Jim Crow’s Brutality

By Staff of The Conversation - On the evening of February 12, 1946, Isaac Woodard, a 26-year-old black Army veteran, boarded a bus in Augusta, Georgia. Earlier that day, he’d been honorably discharged, and he was heading to Winnsboro, South Carolina to reunite with his wife. The bus driver made a stop en route. When Woodard asked if he had time to use the bathroom, the driver cursed loudly at him. Woodard would later admit in a deposition that he cursed back.

Independent Autopsy Finds Cop Shot Akiel Denkins In The Back

By Michael J. Dawson for Filming Cops - An independent autopsy states that a Raleigh, N.C. police officer fatally shot 24-year-old Akiel Denkins in the back, contrary to what the police department has stated. The results of the autopsy were announced at a press conference by the family, along with their attorneys, and members of the North Carolina NAACP, yesterday. “An initial review by the family, their legal team, and a forensic pathologist, indicates Mr. Denkins was shot from the back,” said Priscilla McCoy, one of the family’s attorneys.

Survey: Freddie Gray’s Neighborhood Rife With Police Brutality

By Colin Daileda. Baltimore, MD - The Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester consumed the news cycle for a brief period in April 2015, when Freddie Gray, a black resident of the area, died in police custody. His death put a spotlight on the police department's relationship with the black residents of Baltimore, and the results of a survey released on March 8 show why the tension therein was bound to boil over. According to a survey conducted by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development and the No Boundaries Coalition, which describes itself as a resident-led advocacy group based in west Baltimore, 453 out of 1,500 survey respondents in Sandtown-Winchester had experienced or witnessed "police misconduct."

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