Wednesday Morning Scoop: Rage Against the Police
Baton Rouge, Sacramento Boil Over Police Shootings
Family outrage boiled over yesterday as news broke that two white police officers in Baton Rouge, La., will not face charges over the fatal shooting of a black man, Alton Sterling, almost two years ago. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced the decision.
“They’re not going to bring charges on anybody. Why would they do that? This is white America,” Sterling’s aunt Veda Washington told reporters after learning of the decision. The police department said they will continue an internal investigation.
In California’s capital, meanwhile, demonstrators swarmed Sacramento City Hall, protesting the death of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man carrying only a mobile phone, who was shot 20 times in the backyard of his family’s home by two police officers.
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said the state attorney general’s office was now part of an investigation he hopes will bring “faith and transparency” to the city, where protestors have blocked highways and disrupted the start of NBA games.
Clark’s uncle, Curtis Gordon, told the media that “You know, sadly, I have no confidence in America and the fact that I will probably hear another story sometime this year of an innocent life lost over excessive police force. It’s so common, you’re numb to it.”
[Get the Morning Scoop in your inbox each weekday]
Somebody Made A Secret Visit to China
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a surprise visit to Beijing this week, Kim’s first visit abroad since he became North Korea’s leader in 2011.
CNN reports, “Kim traveled to the Chinese capital because he felt compelled to personally inform President Xi Jinping of the rapid diplomatic developments on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.”
This secret—and surprising—visit by Kim is the first of three potential meetings between him and some of the world’s most powerful leaders.
CMN’s Ginny Dang has details in her CMN report.
Today in a Tweet
Everybody’s talking about the #Roseanne reboot.
Exclusive: What the March For Our Lives Was Like in Murdertown, USA
On Saturday, March 24, hundreds of people gathered in Wilmington, Delaware, to attend their local March for Our Lives. However, this was not any typical March for Our Lives gathering. Students and adults came together in the city of Wilmington, notoriously known as Murdertown USA, and the 5th most dangerous city in the world.
Clutching signs and chanting mantras, supporters marched up and down the streets of Wilmington with one motive in mind: We demand change.
CMN writer Lindsay Wigo makes her debut with a moving original report.
[Get the Morning Scoop in your inbox each weekday]
UT Dallas Students to Help Create Database of School Shootings
In light of recent misinformation, Criminologist Nadine Connell and students from the University of Texas at Dallas are teaming up to investigate the number of school shootings that have occurred in America since 1990.
The team will study how guns have affected students in grades K-12, specifically if someone was injured or killed by a firearm on campus.
Dani Matias has the full story in her report for CMN.
Last But Not Least: A Rescue Chihuahua Gave Birth to 11 Puppies on National Puppy Day
A chihuahua that had survived a harsh hoarding situation gave birth to 11 puppies on National Puppy Day last week, surprising its foster owners and the rescue group that saved her.
“One came out, one more came out – two, three and four more came out,” Josie Brown, who is fostering the puppies, told Fox 8. “She was still round and obviously there were more puppies in there.”
Get the adorable details — and video of the puppies — in CMN’s story.
This mid-week Morning Scoop was made by Natalia Kolenko, and the CMN Staff. It’s 78 days until the World Cup, but who’s counting? Yeah, us. We’re counting.
