Charleston Shooting Suspect To Stand Trial Next Year

Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson set a trial date for Dylann Roof, 21, who faces multiple charges stemming from the June 17th shootings at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The trial date is July 11th, 2016.

Roof reportedly sat quietly during the proceedings in a courtroom crowded with about 100 people.

Mr. Roof was presented copies of the indictments, and his public defender Ashley Pennington told the judge he would not seek bond at this time “based on the totality of the circumstances,” writes The Salt Lake Tribune.

The judge allegedly called Roof a flight risk, noting he was arrested in Shelby, N.C., about 250 miles away, on the day after the parishioners were shot to death during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/16/423612434/trial-date-set-for-charleston-shooting-suspect-dylann-roof

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/16/us/charleston-church-shooting-trial-date/

Epic O’Reilly Race Rant: Vintage Video

NewsBrusandReviews

Writer Leonard Pitts looks at the typical talking points made by pundits like O’Reilly, such as the black-on-black crime rate:

“…this has become the go-to “reasoning” for those on the right — Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh — when asked to give a damn about the killings of unarmed black boys and men.

“That formulation is false for multiple reasons.

“In the first place, being concerned over the shooting of unarmed black men hardly precludes being concerned over violence within the African-American community. Giuliani and others suggest a dichotomy where none exists.

“In the second place, they ignore the obvious: When black people commit crimes against black people, they face prosecution, but when police officers (or certain neighborhood watchmen) commit crimes against black people, they face getting off with little if any punishment.

“In the third place, what exactly is “black on black” crime?

“Do black people kill one another? Sure they do. Ninety percent of black murder victims are killed by black assailants.

“But guess what? White people kill one another, too. Eighty-three percent of white victims are killed by white assailants. See, the vast majority of violent crime is committed within — not between — racial groups. Crime is a matter of proximity and opportunity. People victimize their own rather than drive across town to victimize somebody else.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article4187602.html#storylink=cpy

Police Video Shows Questionable Arrest Of Pregnant African American Woman Over Schoolyard Driving Dispute

CNN

Police body-cam video shows what the ACLU states was a wrongful arrest of a pregnant woman in a school parking lot. The arrest involved the wrestling to the ground of the eight months pregnant African American woman after she got into an argument with a white woman outside a school in Barstow, California. The women were upset with each over a driving dispute.  Some are calling the arrest “unlawful.”

Were the police too aggressive?

What Is The School-To-Prison Pipeline?

TYT Network.

What is the school-to-prison pipeline?

The “school-to-prison pipeline” is a disturbing national trend where children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, according to the ACLU.

Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services, but instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out into the criminal justice system.

“Zero-tolerance” policies at schools criminalize minor infractions. Cops in schools leads to students being criminalized for behavior that should be handled inside the school. Blacks and Latinos are especially vulnerable to these trends and the discriminatory application of discipline.

Anti-Abortion Group: If ‘Black Lives Matter,’ What About the 16 Million Black Babies Killed in Abortions?

Do these types of comments go too far?

Wesley J. Smith writes in lifenews.com:

“…(I)f you really want to find the source of missing African-American voters, it is estimated that more than 16 million African-American babies weren’t born because of abortion.

“If you really want to find missing black voters, that’s where I think the finger should be pointed. Because of Roe v. Wade, and what some believe to be the targeting of African-Americans by the abortion industry, there are millions of black voters who never had a chance to cast a ballot.”

(Updated report)

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/05/15/if-black-lives-matter-what-about-the-16-million-black-babies-killed-in-abortions/

Small ‘Black Lives Matter’ Protest In Minneapolis

On May 13th, between 50 and 100 activists closed down two blocks of downtown Minneapolis before marching to the county government center to protest the March shooting death of biracial youth Tony Robinson by a white police officer in Madison, Wisconsin.

The march was organized by the Black Liberation Project, said member Vanessa Taylor, according to the Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/police-chief-vows-to-investigate-incident-at-mpls-protest/303694581/

South African Leaders Visit Cook County Jail, Have Odd Question

Sam Seder

NBC / The Chicago Tribune had an interesting account of a South African delegation’s reaction after touring a Cook County, IL, jail facility. (The account was buried towards the end of an article about the Cook County criminal justice system.)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-alvarez-dart-evans-preckwinkle-city-club-met-20150507-story.html

African-American Justice, Representation, And The State’s Attorney In Baltimore

MSNBC

MSNBC talks with Christina Greer, Mychal Denzel Smith, Lester Spence, and Neil Roberts about justice, political representation in Baltimore, and the role of the new State’s Attorney.

More African Americans Run For Local Government In Ferguson

MSNBC

MSNBC gives “All In” viewers a look at the history-making election in Ferguson, MO.

After months of upheaval, the beleaguered city of Ferguson, Missouri, has a new governing board. It looks different than the old one, states CNN.

After a higher-than-normal 30% turnout, two African-American candidates won their wards last Tuesday to make the six-member City Council 50% black.

Ferguson’s population of about 21,000 is 70% black, but the City Council was predominantly white, as is the police force.

Strange? Georgia Cop Shoots Unarmed Naked Man

Where could the man possibly have hidden a gun?

A naked man, Anthony Hill, who was a veteran, was shot and killed by a police officer on Monday at an apartment complex in Chamblee, GA, northeast of Atlanta, states the New York Times.

He was black, unarmed, and was acting mentally ill, sources claim.

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