Welcome back to Everything’s Political, Capital B’s weekly news, culture, and politics newsletter! In this edition, learn about two Virginia schools renamed after Confederate generals, a Texas county’s fight for a fair voting map, the killing of a Black airman in Florida, a Black mayor’s fight to govern his Alabama town, and the Trump campaign’s […]
police killings
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mother of Mentally Ill Ohio Man Killed by Police Turns Grief Into Advocacy
Kimberly Roquemore spent the better part of February constantly checking the Ohio attorney general’s website for the results of her son’s death investigation. At least 17 times a day, she found herself hitting the refresh button and found no updates on the page. Roquemore had a feeling that the grand jury wouldn’t indict Desmond Ragland, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
He Needed Help During a Mental Health Crisis. Then an Officer Killed Him.
Kimberly Roquemore’s maternal instinct kicked into high gear during the summer of 2022. She had this unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach that her second-oldest child, Maalik Roquemore, was in danger. The 32-year-old was a Black man living in America with mental illness. Kimberly, a registered nurse, was a week away from moving […]
Posted inPartner Content, Politics & Policy
The Killing of Breonna Taylor Still Reverberates in Kentucky Politics
Originally published by The 19th The economy, abortion and education: They’re the big issues in the ads and debates in the Kentucky governor’s race, just as in other races around the country. But the contest between Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Black Republican, and incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear, who is White and the rare Democrat […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
After 17 Deadly Police Bullets and No Charges, a Grieving N.C. Family Won’t Give Up
Rick Iwanski was disappointed, but not surprised, when prosecutors announced that no charges would be filed against a Fayetteville, North Carolina, police officer who fatally shot his 22-year-old granddaughter, Jada Elizabeth Johnson, with 17 bullets to the back. Johnson was experiencing an undiagnosed mental health crisis when police were called to her grandfather’s home on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
What Happened to Jaylin McKenzie? His Mom Demands Police Transparency
A week before Christmas last year, Jaylin McKenzie was visiting family in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was shot and killed by a police officer following a traffic stop. For nearly nine months, his mother, Ashley McKenzie-Smith, says she has been trying every avenue possible to get the truth about what happened to her only son […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Family of Black Mom Shot 17 Times in the Back by Police Sues
Last summer, Jada Elizabeth Johnson was shot in the back 17 times by a police officer after she was disarmed and pinned down by another officer during a mental health crisis, according to a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed April 7, provides more details about what happened inside her grandfather’s Fayetteville, North Carolina, home on July […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Irvo Otieno’s Death Hits Home For Another Virginia Family
Princess Blanding and her family have endured the pain of losing two relatives experiencing a mental health crisis to police violence within a five-year period. The trauma of watching body camera footage of the minutes before her “brothers” died is acute. And the recent death of Irvo Otieno in Virginia is reigniting her call to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
The ‘Black Cop’ Isn’t Enough Reform to End Police Brutality
More than 25 years before Nas released “Cops Shot the Kid,” KRS-One wrote about the “Black Cop,” describing them as strategically placed props in a systemically racist system used to oppress Black people. During slavery, there were Black overseers who beat other enslaved people. Fast forward to 1993, KRS-One wrote, “Black slave turned black cop […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Policing
‘They Need to See’: RowVaughn Wells on What It Means to Attend the State of the Union Address
This story was originally published by The 19th. RowVaughn Wells is nervous; at 61, she never expected to be the face of a movement, to visit the White House, or to be singled out in front of the nation by the president of the United States. Now, a month to the day since her son, Tyre […]