~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (19)

Students set up encampments to demand Columbia divest from Israel while those at USC gathered in support of Asna TabassumTensions on Columbia University’s campus continued to rise on Thursday as the New York police department began breaking up student protests over Israel’s war on Gaza, at the direction of the school’s president, and arrests were made.Hundreds of students pitched tents and began camping out...

Officer shot and killed both a man who was attacking customers and Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was hiding in a dressing roomA Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot a 14-year-old girl inside a clothing store in 2021 will not face charges, the California attorney general announced on Wednesday.Valentina Orellana-Peralta was shopping with her mother at a north Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory on 23 December...

Shayne Sutherland, 29, died in California after being held face down, a year before a law banned maneuvers that lead to asphyxiaThe city of Stockton, California, has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Shayne Sutherland, a 29-year-old who died after being held face down by police officers in 2020, for $6m, the family’s attorneys announced Thursday.Sutherland’s mother, Karen...

Boy, as yet unidentified, is third child killed by San Bernardino law enforcement in less than two years and second in under a monthSouthern California sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 17-year-old boy with mental health issues after he armed himself with a knife and locked himself inside a bathroom at a home, authorities said Wednesday.The teen was being transferred from a hospital, where...

Toy company makes request after altered images – which hide suspects’ identities in line with state law – go viralA southern California police department has been handcuffed by Lego after the toy company asked the agency to stop adding Lego heads to cover the faces of suspects in images it shares on social media.The Murrieta police department has been using Lego heads and emojis...

Shooting of 15-year-old ‘beautiful soul’ in California revives scrutiny on law enforcement abuse of youth with disabilitiesWhen Ryan Gainer was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, he was nonverbal, and his family all learned sign language to communicate with him. But after the southern California boy learned how to speak at around age four, he was a “ball of energy” who never stopped talking,...

Michael Christian Green faces up to year in prison after pleading guilty over incident in town of Pearl in December A Mississippi police officer pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal misdemeanor charge after authorities accused him of forcing a prisoner to drink his own urine.In court filings, first reported by the Daily Beast, prosecutors for the US district court for the southern district...

Outrage over killing of Ryan Gainer, shot three times on Saturday, as sheriff denounced for defending deputies’ use of lethal forceThe San Bernardino, California sheriff released new body-camera footage of the fatal police shooting of 15-year-old Ryan Gainer, who was holding a gardening tool.The Saturday killing of Gainer, who was autistic and having a mental health crisis, sparked national outrage and escalating criticisms, prompting...

Peter Cichuniec one of two paramedics convicted of criminally negligent homicide for role in 23-year-old’s death after police stopA former Colorado paramedic has been sentenced to five years in prison in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain after he was stopped by Aurora police.Peter Cichuniec was one of two paramedics convicted of criminally negligent homicide for their roles in the 23-year-old’s death, which sparked...

NYPD body camera footage shows city council member Yusef Salaam being stopped, renewing light on police transparency billNew York city council member Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated group of men known as the Central Park Five, says he was stopped and pulled over by police without being given an explanation.The police stop in New York City on Friday casts a renewed light...

A truck and trailer en route to Fort Wayne for a Shriner’s event caught fire, prompting a rescue by local law enforcementA truck hauling zebras and camels for a series of weekend circus performances caught fire early on Saturday on a north-eastern Indiana highway, prompting a police rescue of the animals, which roamed along the freeway, some munching on grass.The tractor-trailer caught fire at...

Lucas Bellamy, 40, died from a perforated bowel after repeatedly being denied medical treatment by jail staffA Minnesota family is suing a county jail alleging their son died in prison after staff refused to provide him with medical attention.Lucas Bellamy, 40, died in July 2022 three days after he had been arrested by the Hennepin county sheriff’s department. Bellamy’s family says that jail staff...

The 2019 killing of the 20-year-old rapper raised scrutiny of Vallejo police department, which has a history of brutalityA California city has agreed to pay $5m to the family of a 20-year-old who was sleeping in his car when police approached and shot him 55 times in 2019.The city of Vallejo, north-east of San Francisco, said in a statement on Wednesday that the city...

Randy Roedema, found guilty of criminally negligent homicide, is the first official to be sentenced in the 23-year-old’s killingA former Colorado police officer convicted in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain was sentenced to 14 months in county jail on Friday.Randy Roedema, an ex-Aurora police department (APD) officer, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault in October. He is the first...

Body camera reveals Los Angeles deputy fired at woman who sought help for domestic violence as nine-year-old daughter watchedThe Los Angeles sheriff’s department (LASD) released body-camera footage on Friday of an officer fatally shooting Niani Finlayson, 27, who had called 911 for help during a domestic violence incident.The footage from the 4 December encounter showed that deputy Ty Shelton shot Finlayson four times within...

Prank call to police claimed a shooting occurred at Scott’s Naples home, prompting a Swat team to deploy before standing downThe Republican Florida senator Rick Scott has said that his home was “swatted” on Wednesday night.While he was dining with his wife, Ann, local Naples authorities responded to what was revealed to be a prank call intentionally made to lure resources like a Swat...

Three officers were first to be tried under five-year-old Washington law, which removes need to prove officer acted with actual maliceA Washington state law aimed at improving police accountability is under scrutiny after three Tacoma officers were acquitted in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained facedown on a sidewalk as he pleaded for breath.The measure...

EMTs Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper injected 23-year-old with high dose of ketamine in a case that sparked mass protestsTwo Colorado paramedics have been convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain after he was stopped by police in 2019.The jury’s guilty verdicts on Friday for Aurora EMTs Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper mark an extraordinarily rare case of paramedics being...

Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who killed Niani Finlayson, 27, previously had killed another civilian under similar circumstancesA Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 27-year-old woman who had called 911 to report that she was under attack by a former boyfriend, police officials and lawyers for the victim’s family said on Thursday. Records show the deputy had killed another person in similar...