Civil Rights

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Deadly incidents in Rochester and Portland fuel new unrest

September 5, 2020

with Amna Nawaz | PBS NewsHour

In parts of the U.S., there continue to be protests and outrage over police conduct and responses to demonstrations. In Rochester, New York, the family of Daniel Prude is calling for officers involved in his March death to be fired and charged. And a self-identified anti-fascist suspected of killing a right-wing protester in Portland, Oregon, was killed by law enforcement.

This Week on Washington Week: The Battle for the Battleground States

September 3, 2020

The 2020 election is just two months away and the polls show a tight race between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. And this week, Kenosha, Wisconsin became the latest and key front in the battle for the battleground states.

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Congress makes last-ditch push on police reform

September 3, 2020

by Heather Caygle , Sarah Ferris | POLITICO

Police reform was done for on Capitol Hill. Then came the latest police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin. Now, despite daunting odds in an election year, key lawmakers are quietly working to revive Congress’ efforts to tackle systemic racism and pass a sweeping overhaul of policing nationwide.

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Biden calls for charges against officers in Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake shootings

September 3, 2020

by Alexi McCammond | Axios

Joe Biden said at an event in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday that the police officers in Jacob Blake's shooting and Breonna Taylor's murder "need to be charged," and called for an investigation into the individual who shot and killed a Trump supporter in Portland last weekend.

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Trump Visits Kenosha, Offering Support for Police With Little Mention of Shooting

September 2, 2020

by Peter Baker, John Eligon, Julie Bosman | The New York Times

President Trump ventured into ground zero of the nation’s roiling debate over race and justice on Tuesday to stand in defense of the police and to reject calls for changes in law enforcement that have generated months of social unrest across the United States.

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Trump attacks take a toll on Black Lives Matter support

September 2, 2020

by Laura Barrón-López | POLITICO

Voters' favorable views of the Black Lives Matter movement has dropped by 9 percentage points since June, including a 13-point dip among Republicans, according to new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. The shift comes after the recent police shooting of another Black man: Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., last week.

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Trump Fans Strife as Unrest Roils the U.S.

September 1, 2020

by Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman | The New York Times

President Trump has been throwing accelerant on the fire of the nation’s social unrest rather than trying to put it out, seeking confrontation rather than calm at a volatile moment his advisers hope will help salvage his campaign for a second term.

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Obama counseled 'a small group' of NBA players amid boycotts

August 29, 2020

by Jeff Zeleny, Dan Merica, Jill Martin, Paul LeBlanc | CNN

Before NBA players decided to resume playing, National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul reached out to Barack Obama, a person familiar with the call told CNN, and asked the former President if he would offer his counsel to a group of NBA players. The source also confirmed that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was on the call. It was Paul, the source said, who organized the discussion.

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Biden's convention embraced racial justice. BLM leaders saw it as mostly lip service.

August 22, 2020

by Laura Barrón-López , Holly Otterbein | POLITICO

The embrace of the movement against racial injustice was a dramatic shift from the party's last convention four years ago and did not go unnoticed by Black Lives Matter activists. But its leaders viewed the gestures as mostly lip service, without a real commitment to policy change: They want Biden to commit to defund the police and to crack down on misconduct by law enforcement.