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4WardEverUK

Jury convicts 3 former officers of violating George Floyd’s civil rights

Police crime scene

all credits: Kearney Hub
published: 24 February 2022

Three former Minneapolis police officers have been convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed and facedown on the street on May 25, 2020.

Tou Thao and Thomas Lane were also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin.

The killing sparked protests in Minneapolis that spread around the globe as part of reckoning over racial injustice. Chauvin was convicted of murder last year in state court and pleaded guilty in December in the federal case.

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4WardEverUK

All the ways Sandra Bland’s legacy lives on (7 years on)

Sandra Bland
Sandra Bland

source: NEWSONE
originally published: 7 February 2022

Monday marked the 35th birthday of Sandra Bland, who was found dead in police custody following a questionable traffic stop-turned violent by the arresting officer in Texas in 2015.

The online birthday party happening across social media helped draw attention to all the ways that Sandra Bland’s legacy lives on nearly seven years after her death.

Sandra Bland’s birthday came one day after that of Trayvon Martin, who would have turned 27 years old this weekend.

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4WardEverUK

New data shows 2021 had highest number of deaths in prison ever

Domiciliary Prisonsource: INQUEST
published: 27 January 2022

The Ministry of Justice has today (27 January 2022) released the latest statistics on deaths and self-harm in prison in England and Wales. This time last year INQUEST predicted that, in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19, the worst was yet to come. Sadly, the government did not act and we were proven right.

In the 12 months to December 2021 there were a total of 371 deaths of people in prison, representing the highest annual number of deaths ever recorded, with more than one death a day. This is despite recent reductions in the prison population. There were 4.7 deaths per 1,000 prisoners, also representing the highest ever rate of deaths.

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