DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Justice Dept. Opens Civil Rights Investigation of Memphis Police
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Rick Rojas | More About Rick Rojas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department said on Thursday that it had begun a sweeping civil rights investigation into policing in Memphis, examining allegations of pervasive problems with excessive force and unlawful stops of Black residents that were amplified by the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in January. In announcing the investigation, officials specifically cited the death of Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, whose beating by Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, was captured by body camera and surveillance footage. The case stoked outrage across the country and directed intense scrutiny onto how the Memphis Police Department operates. The investigation, officials said, intends to explore those broader concerns and whether there has been a pattern or practice of violating civil rights. Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said on Thursday that though Mr. Nichols’s death was a factor in the investigation, the inquiry was “not based on a single incident or event.”

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Kristen Clarke, Nichols’s, ” Organizations: Memphis, Memphis Police Department, Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Locations: Memphis, Minneapolis, Louisville, Ky

☆ In a First, Louisville Taps a Black Woman to Lead Its Troubled Police Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Orlando Mayorquin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Louisville’s interim police chief, Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, will continue permanently in her role and take over a department that has been in turmoil since the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor and was excoriated this year in a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report. Ms. Gwinn-Villaroel, 49, will be the first Black woman to serve permanently as the Louisville Metro Police Department’s chief. She had been interim chief since January, after the resignation of her predecessor, Erika Shields, one of several recent leadership changes. “Over the past six months, Chief Gwinn-Villaroel has shown our city that she has exactly what I’m looking for in a chief and exactly what our community is looking for in a leader,” Mayor Craig Greenberg, who took office in January, said Thursday in a news release announcing her hiring. “She has extensive experience in law enforcement leadership and a record of reform.”Chief Gwinn-Villaroel, a 26-year law enforcement veteran, started with the department in 2021 as a deputy chief after having spent her entire career at the Atlanta Police Department.

Persons: Jacquelyn, Breonna Taylor, Erika Shields, Gwinn, Villaroel, Craig Greenberg, “ Organizations: Department of Justice, Louisville Metro Police Department’s, ”, Atlanta Police Department

☆ Only 1% of US wineries are Black-owned. These entrepreneurs want to change that
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Jeremy Harlan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It’s a problem that the guests at the Black on Black dinner, and many others, hope to change. “What we’re trying to do is change what leadership looks like and bring more people into the wine industry. Ikimi Dubose-Woodson leads The Roots Fund, a non-profit working to create opportunities for minorities to have successful careers in the wine industry. “The amount of money and wealth that’s generated in the wine and spirits industry is never talked about,” said Burston. Connection and communicationA lack of communication between the predominantly White-owned wine industry and minority communities has also slowed diversity efforts, several dinner guests agreed.

Persons: Channing Frye, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Damian Jones, Marcus Samuelsson, “, Alicia Towns Franken, ” Franken, Franken, Jeremy Harlan, CNN Franken, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, ”, Ikimi Dubose, Woodson, “ It’s, ” Dubose, Donae Burston, Burston, I’m, Dubose, Nathan Lefebvre, Frye, Jay, we’ve, ’, ” Frye, Amir Shafii, you’re Organizations: Aspen, Colorado CNN, NBA, Wine Co, Association of African, CNN, Wine, Roots Fund, Fund, Blacks, La, Cleveland Cavaliers Locations: Colorado, Caribbean, Chicago, Aspen , Colorado, Holstein

☆ What is Juneteenth? History of US federal holiday and its celebration explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Juneteenth, long a regional holiday in the U.S. South, rose in prominence following protests in 2020 over police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other African Americans. Juneteenth, a combination of the words June and 19th, is also known as Emancipation Day. Connecticut, Minnesota, Nevada and Tennessee have made Juneteenth a permanent public holiday for the first time this year, according to the Pew Research Center. In Alabama and West Virginia, Juneteenth has been authorized as a state holiday for this year by a governor’s proclamation. People are also celebrating the holiday by organizing for civil rights, reading books about African American heritage and history, attending festivals and musical performances, and dining at Black-owned restaurants.

Persons: Crystal Howard, Read, Joe Biden, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Abraham Lincoln's, Juneteenth, Aurora Ellis, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Black Americans, U.S, District, Columbia, Pew Research, The U.S, Supreme, Thomson Locations: Texas, U.S, Nashville , Tennessee, United States, Connecticut, Minnesota, Nevada, Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia, America, The

☆ Family sues Akron and 8 officers who shot Jayland Walker
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Rich Mckay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A spokeswoman for the city told the Akron Beacon Journal that there would be no comment on the litigation from the city. The officers pursued Walker on foot after an attempted traffic stop in June 2022 and shot him dozens of times, including five times in the back, police officials said. "Only then did the officers fire believing Mr. Walker was firing again at them," said Yost, whose office was asked by local prosecutors to investigate the shooting. State law allows officers to use deadly force against a deadly threat to themselves or others, he added. A media lawsuit seeking the names of the officers is pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Persons: Jayland Walker, Daniel Horrigan, Stephen Mylett, Bobby DiCello, Walker, DiCello, Dave Yost, Yost, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Walker's, Pamela Walker, Rich McKay, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Northern, Northern District of, Police, Reuters, Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio, of Justice, DOJ, Ohio Supreme, Thomson Locations: Akron , Ohio, U.S, Northern District, Northern District of Ohio, City, Akron, State, United States, Minneapolis, Louisville , Kentucky, Ohio, Atlanta

☆ Opinion: As a father, I’ll be sure my Black daughters get ‘The Talk’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Opinion Steve Majors | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Decades of data shows that young Black men are disproportionately more likely to die in encounters with police than Whites. But young Black girls face some of the same vulnerabilities – as well as some particular ones. My Black daughters shouldn’t have to feel like they’re responsible for everyone else around them. Black women are often expected to raise their voices and pick up cell phones to protect family, friends and even strangers. The dangers of shopping while Black are well documented; Black women are accustomed to being racially profiled by retail workers who follow them in stores.

Persons: Steve Majors, Black, Don’t, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Ralph Yarl, shouldn’t, White, there’s, TikTok, we’ve, I’m Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Facebook

I appreciate the fact that he's going to now oversee the Louisville Metro Police Department," she said. "The DOJ had a completely separate responsibility from what we did in terms of our investigation in Louisville. A year after Taylor's death, the Justice Department opened an investigation into the Louisville police department to look at whether it had a "pattern or practice" of unconstitutional policing. The findings resulted in a "consent decree," an agreement between the Justice Department and the police department on steps the force has to take to rectify those findings. No officers were directly charged with killing Taylor under Kentucky law after Cameron's office presented the case to a grand jury.

April 19 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Tyre Nichols' family filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court seeking damages from those responsible for the beating death of the 29-year-old Black man at the hands of Memphis police. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a tweet that the lawsuit would seek to hold the Tennessee city, the Memphis Police Department and individual officers accountable for Nichols' death in January. Nichols' death on Jan. 10 came three days after his beating by police during a traffic stop and triggered a nationwide outcry and protests, leading to the arrest and indictment for second-degree murder of five police officers. Police and fire department responders left a mortally wounded Nichols on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back, and intermittently propped him against a patrol car. Besides seeking damages for wrongful death, Crump's legal team is also suing Memphis police for intentional infliction of emotional distress for lying to his mother.

☆ DOJ Probe Sparked by Breonna Taylor’s Death Faults Louisville for Illegal Policing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A memorial to Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death during a botched police raid, in Louisville, Ky., in September 2020. The Justice Department on Wednesday faulted the Louisville Metro Police Department for widespread unconstitutional practices in a probe launched after the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor and said it would examine the role of special police units following the deadly January beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, underscoring the Biden administration’s focus on overhauling local law enforcement. A sweeping, two-year investigation following Ms. Taylor’s killing found officers routinely used excessive force, made illegal arrests and discriminatory traffic stops, and unlawfully executed search warrants without knocking and announcing their presence, among other civil-rights violations that had a disproportionate impact on Black people.

☆ Louisville cops called Black people racial slurs and videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their police cars, explosive DOJ probe finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jack Newsham | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

LMPD officers threw drinks at pedestrians from their cars and called Black people racial slurs. The DOJ report on Louisville Metro Police published Wednesday details various horrific incidents. The DOJ investigation continued: "Some officers have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars; insulted people with disabilities; and called Black people 'monkeys,' 'animal,' and 'boy.'" The Justice Department mentioned an incident where a police officer used a swear word and called Black men "monkeys" but was not disciplined because he retired. The Justice Department said the officer was verbally reprimanded, but investigators didn't ask whether the use of the word "animal" reflected racial bias.

Companies Us Justice Department FollowWASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The Louisville, Kentucky, police force routinely discriminates against Black residents, uses excessive force and conducts illegal searches, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday, following a probe prompted by Breonna Taylor's death in 2020. Some Louisville police officers even filmed themselves insulting people with disabilities and describing Black people as "monkeys," the Justice Department said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg told reporters the Justice Department's report brought back "painful memories" and vowed to implement reforms. Under Garland's leadership, the Justice Department has sought to reinvigorate its civil rights enforcement program, an area civil rights advocates say was left in tatters by the former administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The Justice department has since restored their use, and launched multiple civil rights investigations into police departments, local jails and prisons across the country.

☆ Biting dogs and violence: Five takeaways from the Louisville police probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are five takeaways from the report:BITING DOGSLouisville police deploy dogs against people who don't pose a threat, and allow the dogs to continue biting after the suspect surrenders, the report found. It cited an instance where an officer ordered his dog to bite a 14-year-old Black teen who was not resisting. NECK RESTRAINTSThe investigation found that Louisville police use dangerous neck restraints against people who pose no threat. It cited a case in which police responded to the scene of an elderly Black man "dancing in the street." In one such case, police responding to a domestic violence disturbance call regarding a Black man.

Companies Us Justice Department FollowWASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The Louisville, Kentucky police department whose officers fatally shot Breonna Taylor in 2020 routinely discriminates against Black residents, uses excessive force and conducts illegal searches, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. At a news conference, Garland said the department had reached a "consent decree" with the Louisville police, which will require the use of an independent monitor to oversee policing reforms. Garland said some Louisville police officers had demonstrated disrespect to the people they are sworn to protect, with some insulting people with disabilities and describing Black people as "monkeys." Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was asleep in bed with her boyfriend on March 13, 2020, when Louisville police executing a no-knock warrant burst into her apartment. In 2022, former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges that she helped falsify the search warrant that led to Taylor's death.

Police officers involved in the deaths have become an intense focus of investigation, protest, and media coverage. Despite being at the heart of some of the most defining incidents in modern policing, most of the officers involved continue to live their lives under the radar. Insider's review of 72 cops involved in two dozen of the most notorious police killings of the past 30 years shows the many different paths officers have taken. There's no nationwide view into what happens to officers involved in egregious incidents of violence. In rare cases, cops involved in these killings have tried to publicly rehabilitate their image rather than seek out anonymity.

☆ 1870 pin meaning: What the buttons and crayon lapel pins Congress wore to the State of the Union stand for
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union address on Tuesday. Two pins — one that reads '1870' in white text atop a round black pin and various colored crayon-shaped pins with the Crayola logo — have garnered attention. 1870 PinRep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., conducts a television interview before President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. "153 years after the murder of Henry Truman, the Black community is still waiting for justice," Rep. Watson Coleman said. Crayola Crayon PinA lawmaker wears a pin of a white Crayola crayon during the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2023.

☆ Family of Amir Locke files wrongful-death lawsuit in Minneapolis
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The casket of Amir Locke, a Black man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police, is brought to the hearse at the Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Ben BrewerFeb 3 (Reuters) - The family of Amir Locke, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police during a no-knock raid on an apartment last year, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the officer who fired the fatal gunshots. The city of Minneapolis said it would review the complaint once it has received the document. When Locke reached under a cover for the gun, Hanneman shot him three times, the suit said. "Hanneman failed to give Amir any such opportunity even though Amir never pointed the handgun at Hanneman or put his finger on the trigger," the suit said.

☆ Photos of Tyre Nichols' funeral at Mississippi Boulevard Church in Memphis show a community jolted into activism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Tyre Nichols' funeral was held Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. A man arranges flowers around Tyre Nichols' casket at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP, PoolThe funeral of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Memphian who was brutally beaten by five police officers on January 7, was held Wednesday at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. Nichols, who has a 4-year-old son, has been remembered by his family and friends as a lover of sunsets, photography, and skateboarding. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, on Tuesday, accepting her invitation to the funeral.

☆ Tyre Nichols funeral draws civil rights leaders, U.S. vice president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alyssa Porter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Al Sharpton will eulogize Nichols, and another prominent civil rights leader, attorney Ben Crump, will deliver a "call to action" during a funeral at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Nichols' adopted hometown of Memphis. Among those planning to join the mourners was U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Crump said the Nichols family invited. Harris spoke with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, in a private telephone call on Tuesday, he said. Two other officers implicated in the events leading to Nichols' death have been relieved of duty - effectively suspended - and are under investigation. "What happened to Tyre Nichols here is a disgrace to this country," Sharpton told reporters, flanked by Nichols' mother and his stepfather, Rodney Wells.

☆ VP Harris to attend Nichols funeral as prosecutors weigh more charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Alyssa Pointer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerMEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 31 (Reuters) - Vice President Kamala Harris will attend Wednesday's funeral of Tyre Nichols, the Black man who died three days after Memphis police officers savagely beat him following a traffic stop earlier this month, the White House said on Tuesday. Nichols will be eulogized by the Reverend Al Sharpton at a service at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis on Wednesday morning. Family members of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who were killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis in 2020, will also attend. "We are looking at all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols," his office said, adding that the investigation is incomplete. In an apparent reference to Hemphill, the office said an officer present during the initial encounter with Nichols may also face charges.

☆ Tyre Nichols' death has reignited the debate around police brutality. Here are 5 proven ways to reduce it - and 2 strategies that don't work.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michelle Mark | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Here are five proven, data-based changes that could make a difference, and two approaches that don't seem to work, according to Campaign Zero. Track complaints about officers' use of forceMost complaints against officers aren't public, making them hard to track. These changes, along with requiring departments to report and publish online data on all uses of force, could reduce police violence. Body cameras are another method that haven't been proven effective when it comes to excessive force instances. Research has shown that 93% of prosecutors' offices have used body cameras mostly in cases against citizens, not against police.

☆ Abuses Proliferate in Police Squads Like Memphis's Scorpion Unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Street Crime Unit. Jon Naso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesMemphis police chief Davis also has prior experience with special street crime units. Street crime squads are popular among politicians who say only aggressive policing will reduce violent crime. In the late 1990s, the Street Crime Unit tripled in size, amid a panic over a rising number of homicides. In a city grappling with violent crime, authorities touted the Street Crime Unit as a bright spot.

☆ Diners caught off guard as a GOP group aired footage of Breonna Taylor's death at a Kentucky restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Michelle Garcia | Michelle Garcia Is The Editorial Director Of Nbcblk | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Diners at a Greek restaurant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Tuesday night were subjected to police body camera footage of the moment Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville apartment in 2020, according to the local NAACP and restaurant patrons. The Tuesday night event took place in the balcony of Anna's Greek Restaurant, while it was still open to patrons unaffiliated with the event. According to the Bowling Green-Warren County NAACP and restaurant patrons' accounts online, the lights went dark, as patrons unaffiliated with the event heard and saw graphic descriptions of the incident that killed Taylor. Prior to the event, the Republican Women’s Club said in a statement that it invited Mattingly to speak at the event “to obtain a firsthand account” of the raid that resulted in Taylor’s death. Mattingly has the right to share his experience,” the group said in a statement to Spectrum News in Louisville earlier this week.

☆ F1 drivers barred from political statements unless approved
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Formula One drivers will need prior written permission from the sport's governing body to make 'political statements' from next season following an update of the International Sporting Code. Drivers who make such statements will now be in breach of the rules unless the FIA has granted previous approval in writing. Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, and now-retired four-times champion Sebastian Vettel, have been among those making political statements at races in recent seasons. This year he wore a shirt proclaiming 'Stop Mining Tar Sands' and 'Canada's Climate Crime' at the Canadian Grand Prix. An FIA spokesman said the update was "in alignment with the political neutrality of sport" as enshrined in the International Olympic Committee code of ethics.

☆ Jan. 6 committee live updates: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +42 min

Committee details Trump allies' efforts to obstruct its investigation In its report summary, the committee detailed some of the efforts to obstruct its investigation. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present. The committee will likely reveal Eastman’s referrals during Monday’s meeting, in addition to expected criminal referrals for Trump.

☆ Jan. 6 committee live updates: Panel to vote on criminal referrals, adopt final report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

The committee's final public meeting is getting underway The Jan. 6 committee has gaveled in for its final public meeting. Key aides, however, aren’t expected to provide any formal reaction or weigh in on any of the possible criminal referrals and will likely defer to the Justice Department, these sources say. Share this -Link copiedHouse Republicans planning their own report to counter committee Republicans plan to release a counter report designed to serve as a rebuttal to the Jan 6 committee’s final report. Axios was first to report of the GOP plans to counter the Select Committee’s report. The committee will likely reveal Eastman’s referrals during Monday’s meeting, in addition to expected criminal referrals for Trump.

Search resuls for: "Breonna Taylor"

25 mentions found