Black Lives Matter

Former Cleveland Officer Who Killed Tamir Rice Hired In Another Police Department

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Police Officer who Gunned Down Tamir Rice is Back in Uniform

The former Cleveland, Ohio police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 is working in law enforcement again. Timothy Loehmann has joined a small police department in Tioga Borough in rural Pennsylvania.  He was sworn in this week. 

 Loehmann was fired in 2017 for lying on his job application after an Ohio grand jury declined to charge him for shooting Rice, who was outside of a recreation center holding a toy gun when officers showed up.

READ MORE: Tamir Rice’s Mother Blasts Shaun King for Profiting off of Son’s Death: “God Will Deal With You, White Man”

Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, questioned the reality of police reform following the hiring of Loehmann, who shot and killed her son. 

“It’s really pathetic and sad that anybody would give this man a job,” Tamir Rice’s mother Samaria told WKYC News. “Timothy Loehmann should never have a job, nowhere across the country, after murdering my son.”

Tioga Mayor David Wilcox confirmed to demonstrators on Wednesday night that Loehmann would not be assigned on the beat patrolling. “At this point, it’s not happening.”

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[WATCH] Akron Police Release Video Of Shooting Of Jayland Walker, Officers Placed On Administrative Leave

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An unspecified number of officers were placed on administrative leave after the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man by Akron, Ohio Police, who they say refused to stop his vehicle after they attempted to pull him over for a traffic stop.

25-year-old Jayland Walker has been the center of racial controversy around the country after he was gunned down by officers, who fired more than 90 shots at the Uber Eats driver, hitting him at least 60 times.

Protests have erupted in Akron following the release of the video footage, which shows Walker exiting his vehicle and fleeing on foot, unarmed. The family lawyer, Bobby DiCello, said of the footage to be released, “I’ve been a trial lawyer for 22 years and I’ve never seen anything remotely close to what that video is going to show.”

n initial police statement, which was released on Tuesday, said officers tried to stop Mr. Walker for an unspecified traffic violation while he was driving at around 12:30 a.m. After Mr. Walker did not stop, officers pursued his vehicle. The police said Mr. Walker fired a gun while he was driving, but the statement did not state how that was confirmed After a few minutes, Mr. Walker slowed down his car and exited it while it was still moving; officers then chased him on foot into a parking lot.

The statement said officers opened fire after “actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them.” “I’ve met personally with the chief and he has told me that he hasn’t found that evidence,” Mr. DiCello said. He said that the police chief told him that moments before the shooting began, two officers tried to use stun guns on Mr. Walker and missed.

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Killer Mike Drops “Run” Featuring Young Thug and Dave Chappelle

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Killer Mike

It’s been over a decade since Killer Mike released a solo track, but this weekend he came back in a big way, dropping the video for “Run,” a powerful track and video with a political message that featured an intro by Dave Chappelle with a guest verse by Young Thug.

The video, directed by Adrian Villagomez, centers around key American historical battles, but reframing them as key moments in black history and the fight for freedom. The video shows Killer Mike on historical battlefields, but as the leader a battalion of Black and allied people who are fighting enemies including Nazis, secessionists, and confederate soldiers. The intro by Dave Chappelle references his “Normandy” monologue.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Killer Mike described the inspiration for the song and video as such: “If you’re looking at this video, certain things are gonna stand out: Obviously, there’s a war going on for people who want justice and righteousness, and there’s a war that’s symbolized by what you would notice is old Confederate uniforms and Nazi-like uniforms,” adding that he included the Chappelle monologue clip because he was “inspired by the monologue that Dave Chappelle did at the beginning — to be representative that there’s a fight, the spiritual fight, that is going on every single day with us.”

In addition to historical references, the video also calls for the release of Young Thug and Gunna during Young Thug’s verse. In the video, a soldier can be seen waving a white flag with “Free Thug, Protect Black Art, Free Gunna” written on it while another scene shows a soldier wearing a white arm band that says “Free YSL.” (YSL Records rappers Young Thug and Gunna are both currently in jail as part of a 56-count RICO case.)

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Benny The Butcher Addresses Buffalo Massacre With “Welcome To The States” Music Video

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Benny the Butcher Has Words for Fans Who Are Worried About Him Signing to Def Jam

The last month has been riddled with tragedy as mass shootings almost every week have led to increased conversations regarding gun laws, racism, and safety in the United States. Last month, a gunman opened fire in a Buffalo, NY grocery store parking lot, targeted, and killed 10 Black people. On Monday, June 6, Buffalo native, Benny the Butcher, dropped a remix of Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together,” entitled “Welcome To The States.”

In the black and white music video, Benny addresses the Buffalo massacre with clips of people shopping at grocery stores, the American flag, KKK members, and police brutality before ending with an audio clip of Joe Biden’s address following the massacre.

“Through June 1st there have been at least 233 mass shooting incidents in 2022 in the United States,” the opening reads. “This means that the U.S. has recorded more mass shootings than there have been days in 2022, so far…”

“One of those shootings occurred in Buffalo, New York on May 14th, at a Top’s Friendly Market Store in Buffalo’s Eastside neighborhood. Ten people were killed that day. All 10 were African American.”

In the track, Benny raps “Mass shooting in my city, eight minutes from where my block at. Saw innocent people shot at a supermarket I shop at,” he raps, before ending the song with an audio clip from President Joe Biden’s speech addressing the shooting.”

Along with the video, Benny announced that he is helping raise money for the Buffalo Survivors Fund. Benny teamed up with designers Kat & Nolan Cartwright for a limited-run t-shirt that honors the ten victims. You can purchase the t-shirt now via the Black Soprano Family website for $40. All proceeds will go directly to the fund.

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[WATCH] Charges Dismissed Against Atlanta Police Who Tased College Kids

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Who remembers those SpelHouse College kids that the Atlanta Police Department tasered during the 2020 summer of protests? Taniyah Pilgrim and Messiah Young were captured in a viral video being dragged out of a car and shot with a taser.

According to 11Alive, the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office has decided to drop the charges against the officers involved and deemed their use of force as justified.

The statement that was released by the prosecutor Samir Patel noted pointlessly that the two teens were out past the legal curfew. Patel went on to talk about looting and arson that took place on that evening, none of which had anything to do with Taniyah nor Messiah.

“The civil unrest on May 29 and May 30, 2020, resulted in looting, damage, and destruction to the City of Atlanta. When their city needed them, Investigators Gardner and Streeter drove into the chaos putting their lives at risk as they had done so many times to arrest the violent fugitives who prey on Atlanta citizens,”

For the two students who experienced the horrific ordeal, the pain and trauma is lasting.

“He did the worst thing,” Pilgrim said about one of the officer’s actions. “Walking me and Messiah off he said that he was going to shoot us. This is stuff that shouldn’t be said after all the trauma.”

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Families of The Buffalo “Hate Crime” Mass Shooting Suing For Victims

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buffalo mass shooting hate crime

The families of the victims of the Buffalo, New York “Hate Crime” mass shooting are suing. Thirteen people were shot and ten killed when a gunman opened fire at the Tops grocery store in Kingsley, an eastern neighborhood of Buffalo.

The Buffalo Police Commissioner says there is no mistake Saturday’s deadly mass shooting is a “vicious hate crime.”

Authorities say an 18-year-old white suspect identified as Payton Gendron is charged with first-degree murder. Most of the victims in Saturday’s mass shooting were Black.

Buffalo Police made a point to praise the heroism of former Buffalo officer and supermarket security guard Aaron Salter Jr. who died in the attack.

READ MORE: Hailed A Hero: Ex-Cop Aaron Salter Jr. Killed While Firing At Buffalo Shooter

Police say Gendron, a self-avowed white supremacist opened fire at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia said investigators are looking at the online history of the suspect.

NBC News reports a manifesto allegedly written by Gendron was posted on Google Docs Thursday night. The document allegedly lays out plans to attack Black people, and promotes conspiracy theory claims that white people are being replaced by minorities in the U.S.

Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, whose mother was killed Saturday, said he’s joining the lawsuit.

Whitfield said it’s time for all the hate to stop. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he’s targeting the “websites and cable news outlets” he claims spread hate and radicalized the shooter. The shooter livestreamed the attack on Twitch.

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[WATCH] Racially Motivated White Man Arrested After Assaulting Black Woman

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Last week a 23-year-old Black woman, Rayme McCoy was attacked by an irate white man who was in an argument with someone else.
Kevin Troy Williamson, 59, was arrested Friday and is charged with battery.
McCoy says that Williamson was shouting off all types of racist slurs and approached her while she was standing at the register to pay. Upon asking him to give her some space, he replied that he had his firearm in his car.

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“SO AT THAT POINT, I FELT THREATENED,” MCCOY SAID. “HE PUT HIS BEERS ON THE COUNTER IN FRONT OF MY STUFF AND I SLID THEM OVER AND AT THAT POINT, THAT’S WHEN HE STARTED PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE.”

You may find the video below disturbing. It isn’t bloody but it is violent. Press play at your own risk.

“I WAS LITERALLY SHOCKED,” SHE SAID. “AFTER THE FIRST HIT, YOU CAN SEE MY MOUTH DROP. AFTER ACTUALLY SEEING THE VIDEO IT’S JUST SHOCKING TO SEE THERE WAS OTHER PEOPLE THERE AND NOBODY DID ANYTHING.”

Two witnesses were interviewed by the police and a week passed before an arrest was made. Also despite the fact that Williamson, was spewing racist slurs, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is not classifying this attack as a hate crime.

Watch the shocking video below.

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Ohio High School Students Place Racist “Blacks Only, Whites Only” Signs Above Water Fountains

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An Ohio school district will discipline high school students who put up “whites only” and “Blacks only” signs over water fountains.

The Cincinnati-area students taped the signs up, posted photos on social media and then took them down. The district released a statement calling it a “tasteless and hurtful act” and said they issued severe disciplinary actions.

Colerain High School, which has an enrollment of 1,730 students, is about 30 percent Black and about 50 percent White, according to U.S. News & World Report via The Washington Post.

A statement that was released on Monday from Northwest Local School District read: “We want to make sure our staff, students, families and community understands where we stand on racial intolerance, discrimination, racism and hatred. We take this matter very seriously. This type of behavior is not and will not be condoned or tolerated.”

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New Report Shows Black Lives Matter Has Over $40M in Assets

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Black Lives Matter has spent over #37 million on grants, real estate, consultants, and other expenses in recent years but still manages to have over $40 million in access.

The Associated Press received a 63-page Form 990 stating Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc. has invested $32 million in stocks from the $90 million donations in 2020. Organizers say that investment will be an endowment to carry on the work of BLM for years to come.

According to the Black Lives Matter foundation, $4 million is in the operating budget, and there is $42 million in net assets. In addition, $6 million was spent on a Los Angeles headquarters in Studio City, including six bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, office space, and a soundstage. The board states the property is used for a Black artists fellowship.

Black Lives Matter does not have an executive director or in-house staff, mainly citing that it operates “as an early startup nonprofit, without substantial governance structure, that got a huge windfall.”

The BLM co-founders, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Ayọ Tometi, have vowed to build an organization governed by the consent of the BLM chapters. You can read more of the report, including the controversy of how funds would be distributed here.

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