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What New Research Says About Race and Police Shootings
In the U.S., African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. For black women, the rate is 1.4 times more likely. That’s according to a new study conducted by Frank Edwards, of Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice, Hedwig Lee, of Washington University in St. Louis’s Department of Sociology, and Michael Esposito, of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The researchers used verified data on police killings from 2013 to 2018 compiled by the website Fatal Encounters, created by Nevada-based journalist D. Brian Burghart. Under their models, they found that roughly 1-in-1,000 black boys and men will be killed by police in their lifetime. For white boys and men, the rate is 39 out of 100,000. In fact, people of color in general were found more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts.
BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL BEING PAINTED ON CHARLOTTE STREET
Local artists are creating a Black Lives Matter mural on Tryon Street between Third and Fourth streets in uptown Charlotte.
The work got underway Tuesday morning. Each of the 16 artists involved, working in collaboration with the City of Charlotte, Charlotte Is Creative, Brand the Moth, and BLKMRKTCLT, will have paint their own vision for each letter.
Panthers move Jerry Richardson statue from outside stadium as precaution.
There have been rumblings on social media that the statue may be torn down as protests continued in Charlotte following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody on Memorial Day. Richardson sold the team to David Tepper in 2018 amid allegations of racial and sexual misconduct that first were reported late in the 2017 season.
PGA Tour recognizes racial injustice with moment of silence for George Floyd Commissioner Jay Monahan stood on the first tee for the 8:46 a.m. starting time that was listed on the tee sheet without any player names. The tour left that time open as a tribute to George Floyd, whose killing by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparked worldwide outrage and protest over social and racial injustice.
Premier League approves Black Lives Matter on club shirts, taking a knee in games
The Premier League has sanctioned displaying the words "Black Lives Matter" on the back of shirts in place of individual players' names and also voiced its support to players who want to take a knee following the resumption of fixtures next week. England's top flight is due to restart on June 17, with Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United and Manchester City vs. Arsenal scheduled to be the first Premier League games since the coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of the competition on March 13. And with players across Europe having already paid tribute to Floyd and Black Lives Matter with T-shirt messages and many players taking a knee, the Premier League have agreed to the shirt-name initiative and made it clear that they back any footballers who choose to take a knee.
Bail set at $1 million for three ex-officers charged in George Floyd's death
A judge on Thursday set bail for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's death at $1 million each, or $750,000 under certain conditions, including that they do not work in law enforcement or have any contact with Floyd's family. J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao appeared in court one day after they were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The charges follow those first brought against Derek Chauvin, the officer who pinned Floyd to the ground by his neck for nearly 9 minutes. Chauvin, 44, was arrested last week and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But on Wednesday prosecutors charged him with a more serious count of second-degree murder. Lane and Kueng helped restrain Floyd, while Thao stood nearby. All three officers appeared before Judge Paul R. Scoggin wearing orange prison uniforms and masks. Each stood inside a cubicle at a downtown Minneapolis courtroom. A plexiglass window provided a hole to speak through.
Twins remove statue of ex-owner Calvin Griffith over comments
The Minnesota Twins announced Friday the removal of a statue in front of Target Field of former owner Calvin Griffith. Griffith relocated the Washington Senators to Minnesota ahead of the 1961 season and remained owner until 1984. He died in 1999 at the age of 87. Griffith was a major figure in the franchise's history, but racist remarks he made at a 1978 speaking engagement marred his legacy.
"I'll tell you why we came to Minnesota. It was when we found out you only had 15,000 blacks here," Griffith said then. "Black people don't go to ballgames, but they'll fill up a rassling ring and put up such a chant it'll scare you to death. We came here because you've got good, hardworking white people here."
Target Field, which opened in 2010, is in Minneapolis, the same city in which George Floyd, a black man, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for over seven minutes.
Judge warns of possible move of trial in George Floyd death
A Minnesota judge on Monday warned that he’s likely to move the trials of four former police officers charged in George Floyd’s death out of Minneapolis if public officials, attorneys and family members don’t stop speaking out about the case. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill stopped short of issuing a gag order against attorneys on both sides, but he said he likely will if public statements continue that make it hard to find an impartial jury. Cahill said that would also make him likely to grant a change-of-venue motion if one is filed, as he anticipates. “The court is not going to be happy about hearing comments on these three areas: merits, evidence and guilt or innocence,” Cahill said. It was the second pretrial hearing for the officers, who were fired after Floyd’s May 25 death. Derek Chauvin, 44, is charged with second-degree murder and other counts, while Thomas Lane, 37, J. Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, are charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin. Floyd died after Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against the handcuffed 46-year-old Black man’s neck for nearly eight minutes. The officers were responding to a call about a man trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a nearby store. Floyd's death sparked protests around the world.