Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd in May of 2020, was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison on Friday. The sentencing decision was delivered by Hennepin Country District Court Judge Peter A. Cahill. Chauvin, 45, will likely only serve 15 years of the 22-and-a-half-year sentence. After 15 years, […]
Derek Chauvin Found Guilty for George Floyd’s Death as Police Kill Ma’Khia Bryant
On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges for the murder of George Floyd last year. The prosecution argued that George Floyd died as a direct result of Chauvin’s physical actions– Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck caused low oxygen levels which led to a brain injury and arrhythmia, which caused his heart […]
Florida Passes “Anti-Riot” Bill to Criminalize Protesting
On Monday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB1 into law, referred to as an “anti-riot” bill, which puts stronger penalties on protesters who engage in “violent rallies”. This comes days before a verdict is expected in Derek Chauvin’s high profile case. The law staunchly criminalizes “rioting”, “looting”, and “harming law enforcement officers”, as well […]
Police Officer Killed 20-Year-Old Daunte Wright
On Sunday, a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man during a traffic stop. The shooting happened ten miles from where Derek Chauvin is on trial in the killing of George Floyd. According to the Chief Tim Gannon of Brooklyn Center Police Department, the officer intended to tase […]
House Passes Police Reform Bill in Honor of George Floyd
On Wednesday night, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a policing reform bill named for the Black man who was killed in May by a Minneapolis police officer. George Floyd’s murder sparked more than 7,000 demonstrations across the country with communities protesting police violence. The bill seeks to ban chokeholds, end […]
Police Raid Former Florida Data Scientist’s Home
On Monday, Rebekah Jones’ home was raided by Florida law enforcement agents. She was fired in May from the state health department, after she helped create the Florida state COVID-19 dashboard, because she refused requests to manipulate data regarding Florida’s readiness to ease COVID restrictions. Additionally, Jones accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration […]
Protests Occur in Philadelphia & DC Over the Police Murders of Walter Wallace and Karon Hylton
On Monday, Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police in West Philadelphia. Last Friday, Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man, was killed in a moped crash while being chased by police. These murders come in the context of many others killed – George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake. A […]
The Ex-Police Officer Responsible for George Floyd’s Death Gets Released on Bail
Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, facing charges of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd on May 25, was released from jail on bail yesterday. He was released after posting a $1 million bond, and soon after, protestors in Minneapolis took to the streets. Hundreds of protestors were present at both E […]
Grand Jury Fails to Charge Officers Responsible for Breonna Taylor’s Murder
On September 23, a decision was made by a grand jury concerning the murder of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman from Louisville, KY who was killed in her home in March of this year. Out of the three officers present at her murder, only one – Brett Hankison – was charged. Hankison was charged […]
Family of Breonna Taylor Awarded Settlement by the City of Louisville
Yesterday, the city of Louisville announced a $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, as well as some reforms to the Louisville police force. Breonna Taylor was shot to death in March after three police officers erroneously entered her apartment using a “no knock” warrant, which has since been banned by the city […]
D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department shot and killed 18-year-old Deon Kay
On Wednesday, September 2, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Alexander Alvarez shot and killed 18-year old Deon Kay, who is Black, in Southeast DC. The police department released body camera video recording showing the aftermath of the shooting. The footage shows an officer exiting his police car and approaching a parked car in the parking lot […]
Police Have Killed 751 People This Year
According to Mapping Police Violence, a database built by Samuel Sinyangwe, there were only 27 days in 2019 that the police did not kill someone. Mapping Police Violence claims to be “the most comprehensive accounting of people killed by police since 2013.” The database highlights the racial disparities in police killings. The data show that […]
Jacob Blake Shot in Back Multiple Times by Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old unarmed Black man, was shot in the back by police seemingly 7 times on Sunday afternoon in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Witnesses report that Blake was helping break up a fight and that police attempted to taser him after responding to a domestic disturbance call. In a Twitter video, Blake can be seen […]
Seattle Police Chief Resigns Following City Council’s Vote to Defund the Police
Police Chief Carmen Best announced plans to retire Monday night, shortly after the Seattle City Council voted to cut the city’s police department budget by less than 1% after months of protests demanding that the city defund the police. By a vote of 7-1, the council approved mid-year budget cut would reduce the police department’s […]
18-Year-Old Transgender Activist Pulled Into Unmarked Van by NYPD
A popular video of an unmarked Kia minivan stopping near a protest against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) shows a group of plainclothes officers using physical force to push a protester down to the pavement and shoving her into the unmarked car. The protester, named Nikki Stone is an eighteen-year-old transgender woman who […]
At Least 47 Arrested After Seattle Protests Declared a Riot
Seattle police arrested at least 47 people Saturday night at a protest against the presence of federal law enforcement in cities such as Portland, Oregon. The protestors are facing charges of assaulting officers, obstruction of justice, and failure to disperse. Approximately 5,000 people attended the demonstration, which police claim escalated into a riot. Police said […]
Trump Threatens to Send Federal Agents to “Quell” Protests in More Cities
President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal law enforcement to Chicago and threatened to send troops to several other major cities run by “liberal Democrats” on Monday. Governors and other elected officials have swiftly criticized the president’s threats, calling it an election-year stunt meant to mobilize members of his conservative base whose support he […]
Unidentified Federal Agents Detain Portland Protesters
Since July 14, unidentified federal agents dressed in camouflage have been detaining protesters in Portland, Oregon, placing them in unmarked vans, and driving away. According to protesters and video footage of the events, the agents refuse to disclose their names or the organizations they are affiliated with. When demanding to know why they are being […]
Los Angeles Unified School District Divests From School Police Force
Due to the work of local student activists, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to cut the L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD) police force budget by 35%. Following the decision, the chief of L.A. School Police Department (LASPD), Todd Chamberlain, resigned. This action comes after a month of protests across the country. Sparked […]
Women in Viral Video Sue Indianapolis Police for Excessive Use of Force
Two women have filed an excessive force lawsuit against four Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers who were captured on video using batons and pepper balls to subdue them at a protest against police violence on May 31. The federal lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana on behalf of Ivoré Westfield […]
