Black Lives Matter Coverage

The three white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were sentenced to life in prison Friday by a Georgia superior court judge. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was killed in February 2020 by father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael and William Bryan, who pursued Arbery in their pickup truck… Read more »

In a majority verdict Wednesday, a jury of the Bristol Crown Court in the UK found Sage Willoughby, Jake Skuse, Milo Ponsford, and Rhian Grahamm, dubbed the “Colston Four,” not guilty of criminal damage under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 for their involvement in pulling down an 1895 statue of slave… Read more »

The city of Columbus, Ohio, Thursday reported that it had struck an agreement to pay $5.75 million to 32 plaintiffs who claimed that members of the city’s police division injured them and violated their constitutional rights during social justice protests in the summer of 2020. Following the killing of George Floyd… Read more »

Twelve Georgia jurors Wednesday convicted three men of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in the Glynn County Superior Court. Arbery, a 25-year old Black man, was out jogging in February 2020 when Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan followed him in pickup trucks and shot him multiple times. While Arbery… Read more »

A jury Friday found 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of murder in connection with a shooting last year during a night of protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement in which Rittenhouse killed two people and injured a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The protests had followed the shooting of Jacob… Read more »

A man shot by Kyle Rittenhouse filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court, claiming that local law enforcement officials conspired with white nationalist militias during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake last year in Wisconsin. Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha… Read more »

The Superior Court of Glynn County, Georgia ruled on Friday that Ahmaud Arbery’s mental health records could not be used as evidence in the trial against the three white men accused of killing the 25-year-old Black man. The defendants, Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan, chased Arbery in a… Read more »

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will review the conduct of the Columbus, Ohio police department in response to a series of fatal police shootings of Black people, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced Thursday. The DOJ Office of Community Orientated Policing Services (COPS) will conduct the review. The Office’s acting director,… Read more »

A Colorado grand jury on Wednesday formally indicted three police officers and two paramedics in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died while in police custody after he was stopped when walking home from a store. One former police officer and two current officers of the… Read more »

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged states to dismantle law enforcement’s systematic racism against African peoples on Monday in a report entitled “Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other… Read more »

A US federal grand jury indicted the three Georgia men Wednesday charged with “federal hate crimes and attempted kidnapping” in connection with the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery is the unarmed 25-year-old Black man whose name became a rallying cry during the 2020 protests against police brutality. On February 23,… Read more »

A commission of human rights experts asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague on Tuesday to investigate the pattern of systemic police violence against Black people in the US. This comes shortly after the commission released a 188-page report detailing the crimes against humanity committed by police and… Read more »

A jury on Tuesday found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Floyd’s death sparked widespread outrage and protests when a video was shared online showing Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes. Chauvin was charged in the… Read more »

A police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, in a Minneapolis suburb during a routine traffic stop Sunday. The shooting has triggered violent protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters. According to Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, the… Read more »

The murder trial of Derek Chauvin—the white former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd—began on Monday, 10 months following Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests it sparked across the nation. In May, Chauvin, along with two other police officers, arrested Floyd for allegedly using a counterfeit bill in… Read more »

Recently, British MPs voted in favor of the contentious policing bill which will significantly broaden the scope of police powers to clamp down on non-violent protests. The rationale provided by the government is that the new Bill will empower policemen to protect both themselves and the public, facilitating the increased… Read more »

This year marks an important milestone for our democracy – the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Yet, despite a recent Presidential proclamation recognizing the significance of this moment, few Americans know much about this part of our nation’s voting rights history. The 26th Amendment is… Read more »

The Photo That Haunts All of the United States In a recent JURIST post commemorating Memorial Day, May 31, 2021, one of us wrote about a photo that haunts us. Thanks to the kindness of Alessio Parisi, we are now able to share that photo with you. It is above… Read more »

George Floyd: I Can’t Breathe Jury: Guilty, Guilty, Guilty Biden: We Can’t Stop Here Outside the Hennepin County courthouse, Minnesota, Floyd family attorney Justin Miller said: What is justice when you lose a loved one? When you don’t have your father or your brother or your uncle anymore? I don’t… Read more »

Every Wednesday afternoon for years, Black Lives Matter activists and their partners chanted a simple demand outside the Los Angeles County Hall of Justice: “Jackie Lacey Must Go!” Elected in 2012, District Attorney Lacey presided over the largest prosecutorial office in the United States. These protests and the frustrations that… Read more »

Breonna Taylor’s killing is not only a tragedy, but a great injustice. The Kentucky Attorney General, despite having the power to contribute to repairing this unconscionable wrong, has failed. The Kentucky attorney general announced that no criminal charges will be filed for Breonna Taylor’s death against the individual officers who… Read more »

The nation has watched aghast as, over and over again, police have killed or maimed unarmed persons of color. Each time, the police have acted with impunity under a quiescent criminal justice system. The charges filed against officers involved in the death of George Floyd are the exception, not the… Read more »

The wanton endangerment charges did not do justice for your murder. We all know that and, from beyond the grave, we know you and all the ancestors know that. Your death is considered by the state to be unworthy of state interest. This endemic dysfunctionalism is evidenced by both federal… Read more »

El dicho, “El elefante en la habitación,” es comúnmente utilizado para referirse a un gran problema que dos o más personas son conscientes de, pero el cual se sienten incómodos de discutir. Por eso, ellos escogen ignorar el elefante. ¡Una cosa que nuestra nación finalmente se ha dado cuenta es… Read more »

“The elephant in the room” is a saying that is commonly used when referring to a huge issue that two or more people are aware of, but feel uncomfortable addressing. Hence, they simply choose to ignore it. One thing that our nation today seems to have finally realized is that… Read more »