Va. Senate Approves Minimum Wage Increase « CBS DC

Va. Senate Approves Minimum Wage Increase « CBS DC: "Democrats in the Virginia Senate want to increase the minimum wage by 2 dollars an hour.
The upper chamber voted 20-20 Tuesday, with Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam casting the deciding vote, to set the state’s minimum wage at $8.25 this year, and $9.25 in 2015."



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Texas Company to Pay $100 Million for Export Violations to Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Other Countries

Texas Company to Pay $100 Million for Export Violations to Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Other Countries: "Texas Company to Pay $100 Million for Export Violations to

Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Other Countries

"

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2-Year-Old Grabs Woman's Concealed Gun, Accidentally Fatally Shoots Her

2-Year-Old Grabs Woman's Concealed Gun, Accidentally Fatally Shoots Her: " A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed a woman after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday.

The woman was shopping with several children, and it is unclear how they are related, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said. Authorities originally said the boy was the woman's son."

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Cop Killings Are On The Rise - Business Insider

Cop Killings Are On The Rise - Business Insider: "Gun related deaths of U.S. law enforcement officers rose by 56 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year, with about one-third of officers killed in an ambush, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said on Tuesday."

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"Pop" Poplawski, the high-def hucksters, and the downward cycle of violence | Blog | Media Matters for America

"Pop" Poplawski, the high-def hucksters, and the downward cycle of violence | Blog | Media Matters for America: "When he was done firing his extensive arsenal including an AK-47 style semi-automatic, he'd fatally gunned down three Pittsburgh police officers who came to his house, initially, over a domestic dispute with his mom. There was a brief stir -- perhaps too brief, in hindsight -- when a friend told TV reporters that Poplawski feared that with Barack Obama in the White House the government would confiscate his guns.

Last week, I got an email alert that a man from just a few miles down the Allegheny River from where Poplawski carried out his murderous rampage was going to jail for violating his probabtion by stockpiling 10 firearms and a cache of ammunition. Federal authorities con"

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Glenn Beck and the Oakland shooter

Glenn Beck and the Oakland shooter: "set off for San Francisco with a plan to kill progressives.

When California Highway Patrol officers stopped him on an interstate in Oakland for driving erratically, Byron Williams, wearing body armor, fired at police with a 9mm handgun, a shotgun and a .308-caliber rifle with armor-piercing bullets, Oakland police say. Shot and captured after injuring two officers, Williams, on parole for bank robbery, told investigators that he wanted "to start a revolution" by "killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU," according to a police affidavit. His mother, Janice, told the San Francisco Chronicle that her son had been watching television news and was upset by "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items.""

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Ohio open-carry supporters bring guns to Walmart police shooting protest — RT USA

Ohio open-carry supporters bring guns to Walmart police shooting protest — RT USA: "Exercising the state's open-carry laws on firearms, Ohio residents brought their guns to a Walmart store to protest the officer-involved fatal shooting of African-American shopper John Crawford.

About 40 people rallied on Saturday in front of the Beavercreek Walmart to demonstrate against the death of Crawford, 22, who was shot to death by police inside the store on August 5. "

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After police killed John Crawford at a Walmart, they threatened his girlfriend with jail - Vox

After police killed John Crawford at a Walmart, they threatened his girlfriend with jail - Vox: "After police killed John Crawford at a Walmart, they threatened his girlfriend with jail"

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Who is Amanda Blackhorse in Redskins’ trademark case? - The Washington Post

Who is Amanda Blackhorse in Redskins’ trademark case? - The Washington Post:



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9 questions about Cuba you were too embarrassed to ask - Vox

9 questions about Cuba you were too embarrassed to ask - Vox: "The US and Cuba announced a historic deal on Wednesday that will take major steps toward ending their 50-plus years of hostility. President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, brother of Fidel, spent 18 months negotiating the deal in secret."

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Race a Factor in Job Offers for Ex-Convicts - New York Times

Race a Factor in Job Offers for Ex-Convicts - New York Times: "White men with prison records receive far more offers for entry-level jobs in New York City than black men with identical records, and are offered jobs just as often - if not more so - than black men who have never been arrested, according to a new study by two Princeton professors."



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U.S. Embargo of Cuba Not Likely to End Soon - Businessweek

U.S. Embargo of Cuba Not Likely to End Soon - Businessweek: "Rubio and his allies could try to block funding for an embassy—although the U.S. already has a consular-like Interests Section housed in the former embassy—or refuse to approve an ambassador. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), also the child of Cuban immigrants and an opponent of the Castros, wants hearings in the committee next year, although he will lose his chairmanship because the Democrats have lost their Senate majority."

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Minimum Wage Hikes Force Walmart To Raise Pay At More Than 1,400 Stores

Minimum Wage Hikes Force Walmart To Raise Pay At More Than 1,400 Stores: "Minimum wage increases across the United States will prompt Wal-Mart Stores Inc to adjust base salaries at 1,434 stores, impacting about a third of its U.S. locations, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

The memo, which was sent to store managers earlier this month, offers insight into the impact of minimum wage hikes in 21 states due to c"

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Reconciliation Nonprofit Helped With U.S.-Cuban Relations | Here & Now

Reconciliation Nonprofit Helped With U.S.-Cuban Relations | Here & Now:

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S.C. Judge Rules 1944 Execution Of 14-Year-Old Boy Was Wrong : NPR

S.C. Judge Rules 1944 Execution Of 14-Year-Old Boy Was Wrong : NPR: "An African-American boy, George Stinney Jr., who was executed in the killing of two young white girls has been exonerated, 70 years after he became the youngest person executed in the U.S."

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Big Job Gains and Rising Pay in Labor Data - NYTimes.com

Big Job Gains and Rising Pay in Labor Data - NYTimes.com: "Even more significant was that the improving job market finally delivered a sharp jump in average hourly earnings for ordinary workers that was double the anticipated 0.2 percent increase.

The jobless rate itself stayed at 5.8 percent."

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December 2014: Photo of the Day | The White House

December 2014: Photo of the Day | The White House: "President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. meet with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Laurie Robinson, professor of criminology, law and society at George Mason University, and a former assistant attorney general, who will be co-chairing a Presidential task force on how communities and law enforcement can work together to build trust to strengthen neighborhoods across the country, in the Oval Office, Dec. 1, 2014. "

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Stop asking Muslims to condemn terrorism. It's bigoted and Islamophobic. - Vox

Stop asking Muslims to condemn terrorism. It's bigoted and Islamophobic. - Vox: "There's a certain ritual that each and every one of the world's billion-plus Muslims, especially those living in Western countries, is expected to go through immediately following any incident of violence involving a Muslim perpetrator. It's a ritual that is continuing now with the Sydney hostage crisis, in which a deranged self-styled sheikh named Man Haron Monis took several people hostage in a downtown café.

Here is what Muslims and Muslim organizations are expected to say: "As a Muslim, I condemn this attack and terrorism in any form.""

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Cleveland Police Demand Apology After Browns Player Protests Tamir Rice Shooting | ThinkProgress

TAMIR RICE and JOHN CRAWFORD!

Cleveland Police Demand Apology After Browns Player Protests Tamir Rice Shooting | ThinkProgress: "Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins became the latest player to join on-field protests against recent police shootings of black men on Sunday, when he walked onto the field with a t-shirt that read “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford” over his jersey.
Rice was the 12-year-old who Cleveland police shot in November after they received calls that he was playing with a toy gun in a park near his home; Crawford was killed by police in August in an Ohio Walmart while holding an air gun. Both were black."

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Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1 - Soundtrack

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1 - Soundtrack

Black churches pray in protest of police slayings - News-Sentinel.com

Black churches pray in protest of police slayings - News-Sentinel.com: "Congregants in African-American churches across the country wore black to Sunday services and prayed over the men in attendance in a symbolic stand against fatal police shootings of unarmed black men.
Bishop T.D. Jakes told worshippers at The Potter's House Church in Dallas that black men should not be "tried on the sidewalk." At Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, choir members sang "We Shall Overcome" for worshippers wearing T-shirts that read "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe." Men at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles stood more than four rows deep around the altar for a special blessing and message from the pastor, Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake."

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The Nelson Lynching of 1911 @ Okemah, Oklahoma

SUMMATION OF EVENTS

Austin, Laura and their son L.D. Nelson were taken into custody after L.D. Nelson allegedly shot and killed George H. Loney, Okemah's deputy sheriff, when Loney and a posse turned up at the Nelson's home to investigate the theft of a cow belonging to a Mr. Claude Littrell. Laura's husband pleaded guilty to the theft and was sent to the state prison at McAlester in the town of the same name for three years. Some accounts say in an effort to save her son, Laura said she had fired the fatal shot. Both she and L.D. were arrested and placed in jail at Okemah before their position there was compromised at the Old Schoolton Bridge by lynching.

http://lauranelsonlynching.weebly.com/

Berkeley students find cardboard cutouts of black lynching victims hanging on campus

Who’s this Laura Nelson?

One of the figures printed on the cutout was that of Laura Nelson, a black woman lynched in Oklahoma in 1911, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Nelson’s 18-year-old son, Lawrence, also was hanged by a white mob that broke into their jail cell, the paper added.

Tens Of Thousands March On NYPD Headquarters To Protest Police Killings

Tens Of Thousands March On NYPD Headquarters To Protest Police Killings: "Tens of thousands of protesters streamed out of New York City's Washington Square Park on Saturday to protest the killings of unarmed black people by police officers, as part of the "Millions March NYC."

The crowd began to wind its way through Manhattan. A large labor union contingent was present, including members of the Communications Workers of America wearing red shirts and AFL-CIO supporters waving blue signs."

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Student groups stage ‘die-in’ demonstration // The Observer

Catholic School - Notre Dame die-in.

Student groups stage ‘die-in’ demonstration // The Observer: "Students and members of the Notre Dame community cover the space in between O’Shaughnessy and DeBartolo Halls in a “die-in” Tuesday, part of a demonstration against police brutality and racial injustice."

The die-in was part of the All Lives Matter Week to End Racial Injustice organized by the Notre Dame National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Latino Student Alliance (LSA), the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) and students in the Masters in Peace Studies program. The events also include a prayer service, another die-in, a roundtable discussion and a public display.

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Georgetown discusses becoming first college basketball team to wear ‘I Can’t Breathe’ T-shirts (PHOTO) | CollegeBasketballTalk

Catholic school and Social Justice!!  Hoyas!

#BlackLivesMatter

Georgetown discusses becoming first college basketball team to wear ‘I Can’t Breathe’ T-shirts (PHOTO) | CollegeBasketballTalk: " Georgetown became the latest athletes — and the first college basketball players — to wear ‘I Can’t Breathe’ t-shirts.

On Wednesday night, while hosting No. 10 Kansas on national television, Georgetown’s men’s basketball team entered the Verizon Center floor for their final warmup wearing the black shirts with white words in support of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer. He died while saying “I Can’t Breathe,” and it was all caught on video. On December 3, a grand jury declined to indict the officer."

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UPDATE: Notre Dame women's team wears "I Can't Breathe" shirts | Local - WSBT.com

Very Cool!
#BlackLivesMatter
UPDATE: Notre Dame women's team wears "I Can't Breathe" shirts | Local - WSBT.com: "The Notre Dame women's basketball team joined a growing number of sports teams all across the country that has taken to wearing "I Can’t Breathe" T-shirts.

And they did it with the blessing of the university's administration.

“All of us were passionate and we’ve all been talking about it,” Taya Reimer, ND Forward, said. “The other day when we had the die-in on campus, I think that was something that motivated us to try and find some way we can all get involved.”"

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At least 5 Ferguson officers apart from Brown shooter have been named in lawsuits - The Washington Post

At least 5 Ferguson officers apart from Brown shooter have been named in lawsuits - The Washington Post: "In four federal lawsuits, including one that is on appeal, and more than a half-dozen investigations over the past decade, colleagues of Darren Wilson’s have separately contested a variety of allegations, including killing a mentally ill man with a Taser, pistol-whipping a child, choking and hog-tying a child and beating a man who was later charged with destroying city property because his blood spilled on officers’ clothes.

One officer has faced three internal affairs probes and two lawsuits over claims he violated civil rights and used excessive force while working at a previous police department in the mid-2000s. That department demoted him after finding credible evidence to support one of the complaints, and he subsequently was hired by the Ferguson force."

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Lawsuit Settled Involving Ferguson Officer Who Allegedly Choked, Hog-Tied A 12-Year-Old

Lawsuit Settled Involving Ferguson Officer Who Allegedly Choked, Hog-Tied A 12-Year-Old: "A lawsuit against a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who allegedly choked and hog-tied a 12-year-old boy in 2010 has been settled on undisclosed terms, court filings show.

The 2012 lawsuit alleged that Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma, who was then serving as a police officer in Jefferson County, Missouri, and his then-colleague Richard Carter approached the shirtless 12-year-old as the boy was checking his mailbox at the end of his driveway."

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Ex-DoJ official: Senate report examples 'very troubling' if true – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Ex-DoJ official: Senate report examples 'very troubling' if true – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs: "Well, those are very troubling examples. They would not have been approved by the Justice Department – they weren't approved by the Justice Department at the time. But I have to question whether they’re true because I can’t take at face value the committee’s report because there were no Republicans involved."

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Staffers Walk Out Of Congress In Protest Over Brown And Garner Cases : The Two-Way : NPR

So cool.  It's really neat that the other groups, who are also disportionately affected, joined in: Congressional Black Associates, Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association and the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association.

Staffers Walk Out Of Congress In Protest Over Brown And Garner Cases : The Two-Way : NPR: "Dozens of congressional staff members walked out of the Capitol at 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday, in a show of support for protesters angered by recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Wearing suits, ties and overcoats, the staffers stood several rows deep on the steps of Capitol Hill before making the hands-up gesture that has come to symbolize frustration with the deaths of the two unarmed black men at the hands of police. They stood silently with their arms raised for a moment before disbanding and walking down the steps.

While the event was spearheaded by the Congressional Black Associates, it also drew other staff members, including the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association and the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, according to CNN."

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Ohio State Medical Students Use "Die-In" To Highlight Racial Disparity Issues | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio

Ohio State Medical Students Use "Die-In" To Highlight Racial Disparity Issues | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio: "Students at more than 70 medical schools across the country, including Ohio State, participated in a protest at noon on Wednesday.

It was called "white coat die-ins" and participants say it was in protest to the recent police involved deaths in Ferguson and New York City and to highlight issues of racial disparities.

Just after noon Wednesday, roughly 20 medical students quietly walked out of Ohio State's Prior Health Sciences Library, crossed 10th Avenue and joined other medical students nationwide who were staging "die-ins" at the same time.  They held signs that read "white coats for black lives" or "black lives matter" they stayed there, quietly, for roughly 20 minutes."

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Medical School Students Stage Die-In's to Protest Police Brutality & Racial Biases in Healthcare System - The Root

Medical School Students Stage Die-In's to Protest Police Brutality & Racial Biases in Healthcare System - The Root: "Medical school students across the nation put on their white coats on Wednesday and staged die-in’s as a way to protest against the recent killings of unarmed black men by law-enforcement and the racial biases that also exist in healthcare, Al Jazeera reports.

“Participants say the same structural racism that results in police brutality against blacks manifests itself in the health care system, leading to poorer health, shorter life expectancies and inferior medical care for black Americans,” the news site explained."

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`Jacinto Zavala: No Charges in Police Killing of Ex-Soldier Who Referenced Michael Brown | Westword

Jacinto Zavala: No Charges in Police Killing of Ex-Soldier Who Referenced Michael Brown | Westword: "Several websites, including this one, have likened Greeley resident Jacinto Zavala's death in an August police shooting to the violent death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri -- an incident that led to riots and a national dialogue about race and law enforcement. Zavala, a former soldier said to suffer from PTSD, was holding a BB gun at the time he was killed, but his family has disputed that he was aiming it when officers pulled their triggers.
Now, the Weld County District Attorney's Office has issued a report about Zavala that reveals he actually mentioned Brown in the context of saying, "I'm not going to shoot the cops." Yet other factors led the DA's office to deem the officers' actions justified. Photos, details and the decision letter below."

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Rev Al Sharpton hosts rally demanding justice in Akai Gurley shooting | Demotix.com

Rev Al Sharpton hosts rally demanding justice in Akai Gurley shooting | Demotix.com: "In the wake of the NYPD fatal shooting of Pink Houses resident Akai Gurley, Reverend Al Sharpton brought Gurley's daughter, Akaila, her mother Kimberly Ballinger and several city leaders to his National Action Network headquarters to demand justice."

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Akai Gurley, man killed by rookie NYPD cop,"We do not believe it was an accident," - Newsday

Akai Gurley, man killed by rookie NYPD cop,"We do not believe it was an accident," - Newsday: "Gurley, 28, was killed the morning of Nov. 20 when Officer Peter Liang shot him in the chest in a stairwell at the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

Police said the shooting appeared to be an accidental discharge.

Investigators said Liang held his drawn weapon in his left hand, which may have been jostled as he opened the stairwell door; and the single shot that killed Gurley may have ricocheted off a stairwell wall.

Kimberly Ballinger, Gurley's domestic partner, spoke briefly to reporters before his wake Friday night at Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn."

"He was a very great person, and he leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter," she said. "We want justice for Akai . . . I want an indictment."
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NYPD cop in Eric Garner chokehold death not indicted - NY Daily News

NYPD cop in Eric Garner chokehold death not indicted - NY Daily News: "'The time for remorse was when my husband was yelling to breathe': Eric Garner's widow lashes out at NYPD cop who put her husband in fatal chokehold"

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Officer in fatal N.Y. arrest stripped of gun, badge

Officer in fatal N.Y. arrest stripped of gun, badge: "Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an eight-year NYPD veteran, and an officer who has been with the force for four years were both taken off the street after the death Thursday of 43-year-old Eric Garner on Staten Island, a borough south of Manhattan, police said."

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LeBron James on Derrick Rose’s “I Can’t Breathe” shirt: “Spectacular. I loved it” | ProBasketballTalk

LeBron James on Derrick Rose’s “I Can’t Breathe” shirt: “Spectacular. I loved it” | ProBasketballTalk: "From Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

On Sunday prior to practice he was asked about Rose’s protest gesture.

“It’s spectacular,” James said. “I loved it. I’m looking for one.”

When asked if he planned to wear the T-shirt before a game, James was coy, but hinted it could potentially happen.

“It’s possible,” he said. “I’m looking for one. I think it was great.”"

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Derrick Rose takes stand wearing 'I can't breathe' T-shirt in warm-ups - Chicago Tribune

Derrick Rose takes stand wearing 'I can't breathe' T-shirt in warm-ups - Chicago Tribune: "Derrick Rose took a bold stand Saturday night, wearing a black T-shirt with the words "I can't breathe" on it during warm-ups before facing the Warriors.

Eric Garner spoke those words as police apprehended him for selling loose cigarettes and placed him in a chokehold in a scene captured on video in July. Garner, a black man, later died in part from neck compressions from that chokehold. A Staten Island grand jury ruled last week that no charges would be filed against New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is white."

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St Louis Rams show ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ to protest the Michael Brown-...

Anger over Ferguson spilled onto the playing field this past Sunday, when some of the NFL's St. Louis Rams players entered the stadium playing field with their hands raised overhead, a show of solidarity with shooting victim Michael Brown, who some witnesses say had his hands in the air when police officer Darren Wilson fired the fatal shots. 

Protest Of Chokehold Death Turns Violent In Berkeley

Protest Of Chokehold Death Turns Violent In Berkeley: "Protests of a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man continued around the country, and authorities said a march in California turned violent when masked demonstrators smashed windows and threw objects at police."

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