By Rudi Keller
Just a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, Missouri officials executed Marcellus Williams Tuesday at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.
Williams, who was backed in his appeals for clemency by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, left only a single sentence — “All praise to Allah in every situation” — in his last statement, KMOV TV reported.
By Ken Coleman
Three nonprofits earlier this month released findings of a study that analyzes segments or values clusters within the Black community in three swing states that goes deeper than typical demographics.
The research in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania was not conducted in support of any candidate.
Results of a national, four-year project to study the Black electorate show that while almost half (41%) of Black people believe in their collective power to drive change, another 22% are deeply cynical about politics and elections, and 18% are susceptible to this growing disillusionment because they are often overlooked by the political industry.
By Jake Johnson
"The ultra-wealthy and the mega-corporations they control are shaping global rules to serve their interests at the expense of people everywhere."
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — A GOP measure barring accrediting organizations from requiring colleges and universities to adopt diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a condition of accreditation passed the U.S. House Thursday, though its fate appears dim.
The End Woke Higher Education Act — which succeeded 213-201 — marks one of several so-called anti-woke initiatives and messaging bills from Republican lawmakers to hit the House floor this week.
The higher education measure, which drew fierce opposition from the Biden administration and major associations of colleges and universities, came amid a looming government shutdown deadline and in the heat of the 2024 campaign.
By Kevin Hardy
In a wild election season, these 7 states — with disparate identities and spanning the nation — will decide our next president.
Despite the historic lead-up to Election Day, the race has now settled into familiar territory: Much like 2020’s contest, top political strategists on both sides of the aisle expect control of the White House could come down to just a few thousand votes in a handful of battleground states.
By Sklar Laird
The Wednesday order came as part of a new lawsuit about a state secrecy law
COLUMBIA — A federal judge said Wednesday she will not halt the state’s first execution in 13 years over attorneys’ request for more information on the lethal drugs.
Attorneys for Freddie Owens, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Friday, asked for a delay in his execution after filing a federal lawsuit in Columbia last week arguing condemned inmates need more information about the state’s supply of pentobarbital.
By Mina Corpuz
Willie Jerome Manning, sentenced to death for the murder of two Mississippi State University students 30 years ago, “has had his days in court” and now an execution date can be set, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Monday.
“Petitioner has had more than a full measure of justice,” Chief Justice Michael Randolph wrote in the majority opinion joined by justices James Maxwell II, Dawn Beam, David Ishee and Kenneth Griffis.
A recent police shooting in a New York City subway station has reignited outrage around subway fares and the heavy police presence across the city
On the afternoon of September 15, a New York City police officer opened fire into a crowded subway station after following someone who had allegedly evaded the fare. As a result, four people were injured, including a fellow police officer.
Police followed a man, 37-year-old Derell Mickles, into the Sutter Ave subway station in Brooklyn, New York after allegedly seeing him evade the train fare, pursuing him up three flights of stairs. Last year, subway fares in New York City were raised from USD 2.75 to USD 2.90, which many have criticized for being unaffordable for working class people in the city. New York City Police Department Chief Jeffrey B. Maddrey claimed in a press conference that the officer opened fire on the man who had entered the station after “they become aware that he has a knife in his pocket.”
“The male basically challenges the officers: ‘No, you’re going to have to shoot me.’” Maddrey claimed. The claim that the man had a knife has been challenged by a witness to the shooting, interviewed by independent journalist Talia Jane. The witness, D, claims, “From where I was seated, he just had both hands behind his back. I tried to see a knife but I never ended up seeing his hands. Never saw one even after, when they were on the ground with him, after they shot him. They never shouted anything about him charging them, I assumed he’d gotten by them and was making his way off the platform back onto the street when they wildly shot.”
According to Gloria Holloway, Mickles’ mother, her son carries a knife in his pocket because he works as a chef. Holloway expressed her distress at how the NYPD chose to notify her that her son was shot. She had spotted an NYPD business card under her doorway after coming off of her shift as a security guard. “They just shot him, then didn’t bother to get in touch with anybody related to him?” Holloway said to The Gothamist. “And left a card here at the damn door?”
Both media and city officials have communicated the events in a way that some argue obscures what truly happened. New York City Mayor Eric Adams wrote on X, “Earlier today, one of our officers was shot while protecting our subway system. I am relieved to report he is in good condition now, and we have arrested the suspect who put so many lives in danger. I cannot thank these officers enough for their bravery.” Nowhere in this message does Adams acknowledge that this officer was shot by another officer in response to alleged fare evasion. Conservative outlet The New York Post, notorious for issuing sensationalist reports on crime in the city, reported that, “NYPD cop shot, 3 others injured as suspect comes at police with knife in Brooklyn,” which again fails to mention that the officer was shot by a fellow cop.
This is not the first time the NYPD has unleashed violence on someone for minor crimes on the trains. Brutal arrests for fare evasion are often caught on camera by other New Yorkers. Last month, a Black man was attacked by multiple NYPD officers with tasers for allegedly moving between train cars. The NYPD is also notorious for harassing vendors on the subway for vending without a license.
Paradoxically, the NYPD has been criticized for slow response to serious incidents such as a mass shooting in April 2022, when Frank James shot 33 bullets into a subway car full of commuters. A police officer responding to the scene could not get his radio to work, and told train passengers to call 911 instead. Despite New York City being one of the most heavily surveilled cities, the NYPD surveillance cameras at all three subway stations where the shooting took place were not working. It took police over a day to find the shooter. In the end, it was not even the police who discovered James’ whereabouts, but he ended up turning himself in.
The September 15 NYPD shooting has re-ignited debates around eliminating the subway fare to alleviate cost of living for millions of working people who use the trains to commute each day, as well as the militarization of police. “2 dollars and 90 cents is the price the NYPD has put on the lives of New York’s poorest,” wrote the Palestinian Youth Movement, a Palestinian diaspora organization in the US that is at the forefront of demanding an arms embargo on Israel. “With [New York] Governor Kathy Hochul deploying the National Guard to the subways and billions of dollars in NYPD technology being used to further surveil, criminalize, and repress poor people across our city, lethal results like yesterday’s are a systematic guarantee. Adams, Hochul, and City Council continue to funnel New Yorkers’ taxpayer money into their open war on poverty, as they have done with Israel’s war on Gaza over the past year.”
Cathy Rojas, a socialist activist who ran against Eric Adams for New York City Mayor in 2021 on the ticket of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, told Peoples Dispatch, “The NYPD’s shooting of civilians over fare evasion demonstrates a gross disregard for our community members’ lives, going as far as attempted murder to recover only 2.90.”
Rojas continued, “This comes at a time when the MTA could, and should be free, highlighting the urgent need to end a system that prioritizes profit over human life. We must redirect funds from Wall Street and the ultra-wealthy to fully fund and modernize the transit system and make it free for everyone.”
This article originally appeared in Peoples Dispatch on September 16th, 2024
By Sameea Kamal
Ronald Latney used to believe his vote didn’t matter. But after returning to jail this year, he realized the difference it can make — especially locally.
“I try to tell everybody … like, man, we need to vote, because our lives depend on this,” he said, mentioning district attorney races and bail policies. “That’s very impactful on me and what I’m going through now.”
By Casey Quinlan
Inflation hit a three-year low last month, just as the presidential election is heating up.
But the high cost of housing and other necessities will keep the economy central to both of the major campaigns, as seen this week in the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, rose 2.5% in the past year, which is the smallest jump since February 2021, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday. The main driver of this increase was shelter, which moved up 0.5% in August. Airline fares, car insurance, education, and apparel also rose that month. But wages also rose 0.4% in August and 3.8% over the past year, and the average workweek increased by 0.1 hour — welcome news for workers trying to keep up with the cost of living.
