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☆ A Black teen’s murder sparked a crisis over racism in British policing. Thirty years on, little has changed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Katie Polglase Sarah El Sirgany Ivana Kottasová Martin Bourke Oscar Featherstone | Katie Polglase | Sarah El Sirgany | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

His killing and the subsequent failure of the London Metropolitan Police Service to properly investigate the crime sparked a national outcry. Within days of his killing at a bus stop in southeast London, five White teens were identified as being involved. It took years of campaigning by the Lawrence family — and public support from the likes of Nelson Mandela and the national press — to get the investigation moving. While an initial investigation by then-police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission cleared the police of any wrongdoing, the Rigg family kept fighting. Matthew Brealey/CNNFinding peaceAs the Lawrence family and their supporters mark the 30th anniversary of Stephen’s killing, they are still fighting for his killers to face justice.

About half of the new gun owners were female, 20% were Black, and 20% were Hispanic. Overall, gun owners were 63% male and 73% White. “The face of gun ownership is changing somewhat and the people who are becoming new gun owners today are less likely to be male and more likely to be non-White, more likely to be somewhat younger than existing and long-standing gun owners,” Miller said. “Most people are coming in as new gun owners looking for something for personal defense or we spend a lot of time with inquisitive people. “I have a Ruger and a Rossi – both rifles,” Shelby said.

Trump won 76% of the white evangelical vote in 2020, down from 80% in 2016, according to Edison Research exit polls. In a March poll, Trump edged DeSantis among evangelicals in a two-way matchup 51% to 42%, a nine-point improvement for Trump from the month before. The gathering is traditionally an important stop for Republican presidential candidates, although this year DeSantis, who was invited, will not be going. Vander Plaats said evangelicals will consider whether Trump can prevail next year after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. “I don’t think President Trump is a principled man -- I think he was a great president,” Ascol said.

☆ Bidens report $580,000 in 2022 income, donation to police foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill released their federal tax return on Tuesday, showing the couple earned nearly $580,000 last year and paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.8%. The Bidens also donated roughly 3.5% of their income, or $20,180, to 20 charities, including one associated with U.S. police unions. The Bidens reported 2022 federal adjusted gross income of $579,514 and paid $137,658 in federal income tax. Their charitable donations included contributions to churches and organizations focused on helping children and first responders, including $2,000 to the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, reported federal adjusted gross income of $456,918, paying $93,570 in federal income tax for an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%.

☆ Appeals court affirms conviction of Chauvin for George Floyd murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 17 (Reuters) - The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd during a 2020 arrest, rejecting Chauvin's request for a new trial. In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he violated George Floyd's civil rights. The most serious state crime for which Chauvin was convicted was second-degree unintentional murder involving third-degree assault. Writing for the appeals court panel, Judge Peter Reyes disagreed. "Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd."

☆ Fact Check-Twitter account impersonating George Floyd was created two years after his death
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Advisory: This article includes profanityA fabricated tweet with transphobic remarks is attributed to user “@BigFloyd73”, an account that impersonates George Floyd and was created in July 2022, more than two years after his death in the United States from a policeman kneeling on his neck. Floyd, a Black man, was killed in May 2020, when Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck. According to the information visible on Twitter, the account “@BigFloyd73” began in July 2022 (twitter.com/Bigfloyd73). Reuters found no evidence of the @BigFloyd73 account having tweeted the fabricated message in the circulating screenshot, but the account did retweet posts containing the screenshot in July 2022 (archive.ph/ybIbu). This tweet is fabricated and attributed to an account impersonating George Floyd.

A youth, later identified as Martin, was asleep in the driver's seat of the parked vehicle when officers arrived, police said. One of the Park Police officers jumped into the back seat and yelled, "Police, don't move. Jade Mathis, an attorney for the Martin family, told the Washington Post that their initial reaction to the footage was tears that quickly turned to anger. The attorney said the family wants the officer who shot Martin to be identified, prosecuted and terminated. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Frank McGurty and Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Philadelphia to pay $9.25 million to protesters at George Floyd demonstration
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Law enforcement deploys tear gas and smoke canisters at the I-676 Vine Expressway during a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Bastiaan SlabbersMarch 20 (Reuters) - Philadelphia will pay $9.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by racial justice protesters who accused police of abusing them at a 2020 rally following the killing of George Floyd, the city said on Monday. The Legal Defense Fund, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs, called the settlement one of the largest in the city's history. The Fund said police had agreed to meet with West Philadelphia residents every six months to provide data on its use of force and to take questions from the community. New York City recently agreed to pay out millions to protesters who alleged police abuse during that city's demonstrations in the wake of Floyd's death.

[1/2] New York Police Department (NYPD) officers are pictured as protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., June 1, 2020. FollowNEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - New York City has agreed to pay millions of dollars to demonstrators who sued the police department, saying they had been mistreated during a June 2020 racial justice protest that followed the killing of George Floyd. In a statement, the New York City Police Department said the demonstration occurred at a "challenging moment" when officers -already dealing with the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic - attempted to balance the right of people to protest with safety concerns. The total payments could amount to around $7 million, not including attorneys' fees, but a precise accounting was not yet available. Some of the protesters pursued individual claims and reached separate settlements, making them ineligible for additional payments, according to court filings.

☆ How representation of Black artists in galleries, museums is changing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"There's a lot more support for Black artists that kind of came out of George Floyd's murder and institutions realizing that they need to do more," Peterson said. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty ImagesThe market for work by Black American artists grew by nearly 400% between 2008 and 2021, according to a recent report from art market website ArtNet. Acquisitions of work by Black American artists peaked in 2015, two years after the start of the Black Lives Matter movement. "My impression is there are vastly increased number of solo shows and group shows dedicated to Black artists in London, in Paris, in New York, across the United States," Elliott said. Works from established artists like Kerry James Marshall that depict Black figures are influencing the work of new artists and creating a lineage, Elliott noted.

☆ Minority directors reach milestone 20% of Russell 3000 board seats
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Still, most minority groups hold a smaller share of board seats than their share of the total U.S. population. Often the investors have found receptive audiences, but slow turnover on corporate boards has limited the pace of change, recruiters say. The biggest gain over the four-year period was for Black or African-American directors, who nearly doubled their share of board seats to 8.3% from 4.4% in 2019. They were most represented in the utility sector, with 12% of board seats, and least represented among information technology, energy and healthcare companies, each at 6%. Compared to Hispanics' total share of the U.S. population, their 3.6% share of board seats "isn't anywhere near where it's supposed to be," she said.

☆ As Mahomes, Hurts make Super Bowl history, a question lingers: What took so long?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Asked by a reporter this week what took so long, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was blunt: "There are probably a variety of reasons - probably none of them good." "The reality is, there's such great talent at that position, Black and white," Goodell said at his annual state-of-the-league media briefing. He told the New York Times that year that Black quarterbacks had not "been given the opportunity and the patience" their white counterparts had. "I never felt it was thing where people said it was harder to win with Black quarterbacks, it was more about durability. 'A PROUD MOMENT'At Super Bowl 57, Hurts will be only the eighth Black quarterback to start the title game.

☆ Memphis officers charged in Nichols death face review of older cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"This involves any criminal case that [the officers] were involved in. It is any case where there were criminal charges that were brought by the DA anytime since they became officers." The beating occurred despite the use-of-force policies that Memphis and other U.S. cities pledged to strengthen after the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The five officers were members of SCORPION, a now-disbanded specialized police unit that was formed in October 2021 to concentrate on crime hot spots. Several of the officers who have been fired had received written reprimands or short suspensions for violating department policies, according to their personnel files.

☆ New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

More than 600, or 43%, of misconduct allegations were closed after officers could not be identified, raising a big obstacle in the board's review, the report said. The New York Police Department (NYPD) objected to many of the report's findings, saying less than 15% of all allegations were substantiated. Hundreds of officers were injured and the department had already implemented many of the 17 policy changes recommended by the board, NYPD said. Of the 146 officers cited by the report, 89 of them should face internal charges, which can result in termination. The board recommended discipline, which can include the loss of vacation days, for the other 57 officers.

Senator Cory Booker on Sunday said he believes a policing reform bill could pass the current Congress, although he acknowledged that it will be an uphill battle given disinterest in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Senator Lindsey Graham on the issue of qualified immunity, which he considered a positive step. Graham has stated that while he believes qualified immunity should protect individual officers, police departments should receive no such protection. Booker noted, however, that any bill passed through the Democrat-controlled Senate would still need to pass through the Republican-controlled House. So when you hear encouraging things from people like him, that gives me the sense that we could do something possibly in the Senate," Booker said.

☆ 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.

☆ Kamala Harris tells Tyre Nichols' funeral attendees that Congress must pass a sweeping police reform bill: 'It's non-negotiable'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Vice President Kamala Harris demanded passage of police reform legislation at the funeral for Tyre Nichols. As a senator, she co-authored a bill mirroring the House-passed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021. Harris told mourners on Wednesday that "Tyre Nichols would be here with us today" if police had been in pursuit of public safety. Speaking directly to Nichols' mother and stepfather, she called them "extraordinary." Biden and Harris both spoke with Nichols' mother and stepfather to offer support, and Biden pledged to continue pushing Congress to pass the bill, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerFeb 1 (Reuters) - As soon as next week, the Memphis City Council will consider a raft of reforms aimed at curtailing police violence after the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by five officers following a traffic stop. But after Nichols' beating and subsequent death made Memphis the latest emblem of police brutality against Black Americans, city leaders are facing more pressure than ever to shore up police accountability and hiring standards. "We cannot allow this moment to pass us by when activism coupled with concern from the community is at its peak," Memphis City Councilman J.B. Smiley Jr. said. Memphis activist LJ Abraham said she hopes Nichols’ case will persuade the council to take demands for bolder reforms more seriously. In recent years, city leaders have sought to boost the department's officer ranks, which dwindled as violent crime spiked.

☆ Biden's bully pulpit is Democrats' best policing reform tactic as Congress grapples with Tyre Nichols' death
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Monday he said making the George Floyd Act the law of the land is long overdue. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the funeral service for Tyre Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Now he wants to see Congress act in a bipartisan way to "make transformational change," she said. House Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar was much less optimistic about policing reform opponents suddenly rallying around the Floyd Act or any other substantive proposals. "The thing is, it may have been Tyre Nichols yesterday.

☆ 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.

Crump said he and the Nichols family had spoken with President Joe Biden on Friday and urged him to use Nichols' death to galvanize support for the act's passage. Nichols' mother was coping with her son's death by believing he was destined to change the world, Crump said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. Nichols' death is the latest high-profile example of police using excessive force against Black people and other minorities. Crump said Nichols' death should finally prompt lawmakers to act. The officers were charged on Thursday with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression in Nichols' death and dismissed from the department.

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 27 (Reuters) - Tyre Nichols repeatedly cried, "Mom! The first video released on Friday shows officers dragging Nichols from the driver's seat of his car stopped at an intersection as he yells, "I didn't do anything ... Other footage shows a subsequent struggle after officers catch up with Nichols again in a nearby neighborhood. "No mother should go through what I am going through right now, no mother, to lose their child to the violent way that I lost my child," said Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells. Nichols' family and Biden appealed for calm in Memphis, a city of 628,000 where nearly 65% of residents are Black.

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 27 (Reuters) - The police department in the city of Memphis was set on Friday to release body-camera video of a violent confrontation between a Black motorist and five police officers charged with murder in his death earlier this month. Nichols succumbed to injuries he sustained from his encounter with police and died while hospitalized on Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over while driving. The last words heard on the video were Nichols calling out for his mother three times, Crump said. Two members of the Memphis Fire Department involved in the response have been relieved of their duties pending a separate inquiry. PUBLIC OUTRAGE EXPECTEDAdditional Memphis police officers remain under investigation for policy infractions, Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said on Thursday in a message posted to YouTube.

☆ Bodycam footage of Tyre Nichols' fatal beating will be released today. But many fear video will do more harm than good.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Yoonji Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The police department fired the five officers, who are facing murder charges, and are expected to release video footage of the arrest on Friday evening. RowVaughn Wells, Nichols' mother, has refused to watch the video, and urged parents not to show kids the video when it's released. Video footage can be retraumatizingMembers of the Black community have similarly said they won't be watching the video of Nichols' death, and are urging the public not to share the video. Others have shared steps on limiting exposure to graphic video footage. Citizens in Memphis await the release of video footage of Tyre Nichols' death.

The five officers have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct, Mulroy said. Other Memphis officers remain under investigation for policy infractions, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said on Wednesday. "I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels. The Nichols family viewed the police footage on Monday with their attorney, Ben Crump. The last words heard on the video were Nichols calling for his mother three times, Crump said.

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