Former police officers sue NYPD for racist practices

A scathing report by the New York Times revealed that several police officers are suing the NYPD for its racist practices when policing Black and Hispanic people in the city’s subways. Daniel Perez, a former cop, told the Times that a commander instructed his team to target Black and Hispanic riders for minor offenses and to think of Asian and white commuters as “soft targets.” The NYPD’s increased policing of the subway system has been heavily scrutinized: this year, the city issued 22,000 more tickets for fare evasion that it did in 2018.

Footage of teenager who died in immigration custody is made public

New footage released by ProPublica this week show the final moments of Carlos Gregorio Hernández Vásquez, the 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in a Texas Customs and Border Patrol Protection cell in May. Just before his death, Vásquez caught a severe flu and was moved to a less crowded cell, where border patrol agents were supposed to check on him every two hours, according to the ProPublica report. The footage shows a distressed and disoriented Vásquez falling face-first on the floor of the cell, where he remained for more than four hours before his cellmate woke up and alerted staff. The surveillance footage contradicts previous reports by the Customs and Border Protection, including a claim that Vásquez was found by staff during a “welfare check.”

Police beat man and call him racial slurs

Jacob Angelo Servin, a 29-year-old man of Latin American descent, was brutally attacked by police officers in Stockton, California after he was taken to a local jail for being drunk in public. Servin alleged that once he was at the jail, three county sherrifs beat him with their batons, called him racial slurs and left him for dead. Servin posted a graphic picture on Instagram that showed his swollen face, a broken nose and what appeared to be blood on his pants. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Wednesday defending the sheriffs’ actions, saying that Servin had kicked a deputy and that the officers were acting in self defense.

George Zimmerman files defamation lawsuit against Trayvon Martin’s parents

George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Treyvon Martin in 2012, is suing Martin’s family and their lawyer for $100 million. The lawsuit alleges that one of the key witnesses who testified against Zimmerman, Rachel Jeantel, was an imposter standing in for Martin’s girlfriend, who did not wish to testify. Meanwhile, the Martins’ attorney Benjamin Crump accused Zimmerman of displaying “a callous disregard for everyone but himself, re-victimizing individuals whose lives were shattered by his own misguided actions”. Zimmerman was acquitted for Martin’s murder in 2013 and has been notorious for his controversial actions since, including selling the gun he used in the murder for $138,900.

The New York Ballet casts its first Black/Asian lead in the Nutcracker

Eleven-year-old Charlotte Nebres became the first Black/Asian lead of the New York City Ballet’s annual “Nutcracker” production. Nebres, who is Filipina and Black, was cast for the role of Marie 65 years after the show’s inaugural performance in 1954. According to the New York Times, the School of American Ballet— from which the “Nutcracker” receives much of its performers— has made significant strides to increase its cultural representation in the past years, with 21 of its 62 students identifying as non-white or mixed.

ICE creates a fake university and arrests 250 students

Since January, two hundred and fifty international students have been arrested and deported in connection with a fake university created by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The fabricated University of Farmington was a way for the government agency to expose the weaknesses in the country’s immigration system: namely, the fact that some international students enroll in universities to obtain student visas but don’t actually attend classes. Two hundred of the majority-Indian students were given the option to voluntarily leave the U.S., while 50 chose to remain and were forcibly deported.

House could vote to impeach Trump as early as Christmas

On Thursday, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi instructed House committee chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment against President Trump, moving the impeachment process closer to a floor vote. Pelosi signaled that she believed the Democrats had the support they needed to impeach the president and evoked the Constitution during her somber speech. “Our democracy is what is at stake,” she said. “The President leaves us no choice.”

49ers suspended a broadcaster for saying player had an advantage due to dark skin

Tim Ryan, a radio host for the San Francisco 49ers, was suspended after he said that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had an advantage at faking handoffs because of his “dark skin with a dark football.” 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, who is also Black, defended Ryan and said that the radio host had a ‘valid point.’ 

R. Kelly Faces new charges in NYC for forging documents to marry singer Aaliyah

R. Kelly faces new charges for bribing an Illinois government employee who forged an ID that listed Aaaliyah’s age as 18 at a time when she was actually 15. Kelly is currently facing 19 federal charges in several states for trafficking young women throughout his long career.