Saturday, January 11

Journalism

Documents show US monitoring of Black Lives Matter
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Journalism

Documents show US monitoring of Black Lives Matter

Recently released FBI and DHS documents reveal how the US government sees the movement as a potential threat. Black Lives Matter protests have been monitored by the US government and have been seen as a potential threat, according to recently released documents from the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The documents, which include internal emails and field reports, were circulated among law enforcement agencies in 2016. They were obtained as the result of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the civil rights group Color of Change (COC) and provided to Al Jazeera. Black Lives Matter (BLM), which started as a response to US police killings of unarmed black individuals in 2014, has grown into a movement fighting to end systemic violence again...
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Stephon Clark: Hundreds attend funeral after police killing
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Journalism

Stephon Clark: Hundreds attend funeral after police killing

Grieving protesters call for justice after funeral of 22-year-old black father of two who was shot dead by police. Civil rights activists vowed to keep the pressure up on the US government to deal with police misconduct as they attended the funeral of Stephon Clark, 22, father of two, and the most recent victim of a string of fatal shootings of black men by police. "We're going to make [US President] Donald Trump and the whole world deal with the issue of police misconduct," the Reverend Al Sharpton, veteran civil rights leader, told a congregation of hundreds at the funeral in Sacramento, California on Thursday. Clark was shot dead on March 18 outside his grandmother's backyard in Sacramento by police responding to a report that someone was breaking wind...
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Alton Sterling shooting: Police officer fired over killing
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Journalism

Alton Sterling shooting: Police officer fired over killing

Blane Salamoni's dismissal comes days after Louisiana ruled out criminal charges in 2016 shooting of Alton Sterling. A white police officer who fatally shot a black man in the southern US state of Louisiana has been fired, a police official said. Baton Rouge officer Blane Salamoni's dismissal was announced on Friday by Police Chief Paul Murphy. The disciplinary measure came after Louisiana's attorney general ruled out criminal charges against the two police officers involved in the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling. Paul told reporters he fired Salamoni for violating department policies on the use of force and "command of temper". He also suspended officer Howie Lake II, the other officer involved in the deadly encounter, for three days. Lake helped ...
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Linda Brown: US civil rights icon dies aged 75
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Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Linda Brown: US civil rights icon dies aged 75

Linda Brown was nine when she was denied entry to a white school, becoming the focus of a landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v Board of Education, that declared school segregation unconstitutional. Linda Brown, whose father won a famous 1954 Brown vs Board of Education racial discrimination case against an all-white school in Kansas, has died at the age of 75. She was a major figure in the civil rights movement and central to efforts to end segregation in US schools 60 years ago. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Washington, DC.
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Zimbabwe investigates Grace Mugabe for illegal ivory smuggling
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Journalism

Zimbabwe investigates Grace Mugabe for illegal ivory smuggling

Former first lady's ties to ivory smuggling ring under investigation after undercover mission by wildlife photographer. Zimbabwe has launched an investigation into the country's former first lady, Grace Mugabe, over her alleged involvement in an ivory smuggling ring. The probe was opened after a three-month undercover mission by Australian wildlife photographer Adrian Steirn. Speaking exclusively to Al Jazeera, Steirn said he uncovered the poaching and smuggling syndicate when he began looking into the illegal ivory trade in December. "Ivory was being sourced either from the national park's vault, being thieved or pilfered, or from live elephants being killed by poaching syndicates. The syndicate would then sell to Grace Mugabe's clientele," he said....
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When Malcolm X visited Smethwick after racist election
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Journalism

When Malcolm X visited Smethwick after racist election

Fifty-three years after his assassination, Briton who welcomed Malcolm X remembers iconic figure's final foreign trip. On February 12, 1965, Malcolm X, with his brow-line glasses perched high above his nose, walked along the terraced houses of Marshall Street in Smethwick, a small and bleak UK town in the West Midlands. Nine days later, on February 21, 1965, he would be assassinated having returned to New York City. His final foreign trip saw him travel to the relatively unknown English town, near the city of Birmingham, and home to a large Asian and West Indian immigrant population. In the year before his arrival, Smethwick hosted Britain's most racist election. In 1964, 800,000 immigrants lived in the UK, 70,000 of whom resided in Birmingham, dubbed "the British Harlem" by the pres...
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Anger mounts in US over police shooting of unarmed black man
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Journalism

Anger mounts in US over police shooting of unarmed black man

The killing of 22-year-old Stephon Clark was captured on police body cameras, but shortly after shooting, the audio was deliberately muted and Clark's family and friends want to know why. Anger is mounting in the US city of Sacramento over the police shooting of an unarmed black man last week. 22-year-old Stephon Clark was shot at least 20 times when officers cornered him in his grandmother's backyard. Police say they believed he had a gun. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds has more from Sacramento, US.
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Charlottesville: DeAndre Harris found not guilty of assault
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Journalism

Charlottesville: DeAndre Harris found not guilty of assault

DeAndre Harris, beaten by white nationalists at August rally, cleared of misdemeanor assault and battery charges. DeAndre Harris, an African American beaten by at least six white nationalist demonstrators at the August 12 Unite the Right rally, has been found not guilty by a court in Charlottesville. Harris, whose case was decided by a judge on Friday, had been facing charges of misdemeanor assault and battery. His defence team had argued that he was acting in self-defense. A video of Harris's beating went viral in the days following the white nationalist rally, prompting an outcry. Harris was initially charged with a felony, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor. Four of his attackers have also been charged. The rally was originally called to protest against the removal of statues...
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One way to get people to church on Sunday: Give away free cars
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Journalism

One way to get people to church on Sunday: Give away free cars

If the pastor had ever wanted to channel his inner Oprah, this was his chance. “You ready to give a car away?” Stephen Chandler boomed into his microphone, bouncing in his boots at the altar Sunday. And then the pastor did it again. And later that day, he would do it again. And again. Five free cars in all, handed out to the lucky winners at Destiny Church in Columbia, Md., on Sunday. “We were just going for something you would not expect a church to do,” Chandler said. “This is something you would not expect a church to do.” It was part marketing ploy - but also theology, Chandler said. Randomly giving away cars to people who show up to worship demonstrates God’s unbelievable, no-strings-attached goodness, Chandler preached. And it sure helps get people in the door on a Sunday morni...
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