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U.S. Marines load ammunition and weapons seized in a raid on Mogadishu, Somalia's, Bakara Market December 2006. A Marine stands holding a M60 machine gun, left, pointing it at a crowd of Somali civilians standing at the right. (Photo/Expert Infantry via Flickr)

America’s “Shadow War” In Somalia Gets A Fresh Start Under Trump

Archives for June 2017

The Power of Hate – In Loving Memory Of Nabra Hassanen

Thousands have signed a petition calling on state and federal officials to investigate the 17-year-old’s death as a hate crime. But the case, like others before, highlights how challenging it is to apply that label and the narrow criteria it needs to meet.

Sarah Abed
By Sarah Abed
17 year-old Nabra Hassanen. (Photo: Facebook)

FAIRFAX, Va - Social engineering has brought us the current political and social climate that we see today.  It has legitimized and validated people who harbored cultural biases. Nabra had three strikes against her, she was black, Muslim, and a female, all three components put her at increased risk of social ostracization and potential

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Nevada Judge Grants Liquor Wholesalers Exclusive Rights To Pot Distribution

The judge agreed with arguments that liquor distributors likely will be shut out of the recreational marijuana business entirely if the department issues licenses to non-alcohol distributors.

Kent Lauer
By Kent Lauer
Nevada state Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, smells a sample of marijuana as Christopher Price, a ''budtender'' at the Blum medical marijuana dispensary in Reno, Nev. March 24, 2017. (AP/Scott Sonner)

CARSON CITY, Nev. — A state judge has ruled that liquor wholesalers have the exclusive right to be distributors for the first 18 months of Nevada’s new recreational-marijuana industry, with sales set to begin July 1 under a stepped-up program. Carson City Judge James Wilson Jr. on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting Nevada tax

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Former Milwaukee Cop Found Not Guilty Fatal Shooting Of Sylville Smith

The father of the victim says “there is no justice here” after the verdict was reached.

teleSUR
By teleSUR
Family members of Sylville Smith and others gather where he was shot and killed by Milwaukee police in Milwaukee, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016. (AP/Jeffrey Phelps)

A Milwaukee jury has acquitted a former police officer of first-degree reckless homicide in the shooting of a black man last August, which led to two nights of rioting in the city. Dominique Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith after a brief chase that was captured on a police body camera. After the verdict, the

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Houston Votes To Join Other Texas Cities In Lawsuit Over New ‘Sanctuary City’ Law

The Houston City Council voted 10–6 Wednesday morning to join a growing lawsuit against Senate Bill 4, an immigration enforcement law that allows peace officers to question the immigration status of people they legally detain.

Emma Platoff
By Emma Platoff
The floor of the state Capitol is packed with protesters opposed to Senate Bill 4, the "sanctuary cities" bill, on May 29, 2017. Erika Rich for The Texas Tribune

The largest city in Texas will join San Antonio, Dallas, Austin and other local governments in a lawsuit against the state’s new immigration enforcement law. The Houston City Council voted 10-6 Wednesday morning to join the lawsuit, which was filed last month against Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit takes aim at Senate

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Court: Oakland Police Chief Muzzled Investigation Into Rape By His Officers

“If not for the court’s intervention, we have no confidence that correct discipline would have ever been imposed, criminal charges filed, or departmental shortcomings examined.”

Helen Christofi
By Helen Christofi
Oakland Chief of Police Sean Whent speaks during a news conference in Oakland, Calif. In a court filing Wednesday, June 21, 2017. (AP/Ben Margot)

Oakland’s former police chief tried for six months to muzzle allegations that multiple officers sexually exploited an underage girl, and encouraged his department to drop its internal probe of the misconduct, according to a report released Wednesday by a court-appointed monitor. The report, commissioned by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson,

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Cop Who Killed Philando Castile Claims Smell Of Pot Made Him Fear For His Life

Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension revealed that Jeronimo Yanez originally told investigators he shot Philando Castile seven times because the smell of marijuana made him fear for his life.

Josie Wales
By Josie Wales
A memorial including a photo of Philando Castile adorns the gate to the governor's residence where protesters demonstrated in St. Paul, Minn., against the July 6 shooting death of Castile. (AP/Jim Mone)

A transcript released Tuesday by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reveals that former officer Jeronimo Yanez originally told investigators he shot Philando Castile seven times because the smell of marijuana made him fear for his life. The shooting death of Philando Castile sparked outrage across the nation last July when Castile’s

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