The Fresno City Council and Mayor Lee Brand unanimously proclaimed Thursday as Black Lives Matter Day, and the signing was followed with a celebration in front of City Hall. DJ Kay Rich, who is the DJ for Fresno State basketball, hosted a party that included music, dancing, and Black Lives...
AP-NORC Poll: Sweeping Change in US Views of Police Violence
DETROIT — A dramatic shift has taken place in the nation’s opinions on policing and race, as a new poll finds that more Americans today than five years ago believe police brutality is a very serious problem that too often goes undisciplined and unequally targets black Americans. The new findings...
Los Angeles Leaders Want Unarmed Agencies Responding to Non-Violent Calls. Fresno Mayor Responds
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on a new emergency response model to use non-law enforcement agencies to respond to non-violent calls for service. Council Member Herb Wesson writes on Facebook, "We have gone from asking the police to be part of the solution, to being the only solution for...
Woman Apologizes After Backlash From Confronting Homeowner
SAN FRANCISCO — The CEO of a cosmetics company issued an apology Sunday after a video was widely shared online showing her and her husband confronting a man and threatening to call police because he stenciled “Black Lives Matter” in chalk on his San Francisco property. The video, which has...
Senate GOP to Restrict Police Chokeholds in Emerging Bill
WASHINGTON — Driven by a rare urgency, Senate Republicans are poised to unveil an extensive package of policing changes that includes new restrictions on police chokeholds and other practices as President Donald Trump signals his support following the mass demonstrations over the deaths of George Floyd and other black Americans. Sen. Tim...
Protests Held Across California for Third Straight Weekend
LOS ANGELES — For the third weekend in a row, protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco and other communities across California to demand racial justice in the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis. Sunday's demonstrations were promoted as non-violent calls for change in...
Long Seen as Radical, Black Lives Matter Goes Mainstream
For much of its seven-year existence, the Black Lives Matter movement has been seen by many Americans as a divisive, even radical force. Its very name enraged its foes, who countered with the slogans “Blue Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter." Times have changed — dramatically so — as evidenced...
California Affirmative Action Vote Prompts 'Tough' Debate
SACRAMENTO — The California Assembly on Wednesday decided to let voters choose whether to overturn the state's 24-year-old ban of affirmative action programs — capping an emotional hours-long debate in the Legislature that highlighted tension between the state's Asian and black communities. The proposed amendment to the state's Constitution, which...
Why Are White Supremacists Protesting the Deaths of Black People?
By Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid As protests about police violence among black people continue and become more widespread across the U.S., certain individuals and groups have begun to stand out – including anarchists, agitators and members of a variety of far-right groups. With the country’s long history of racist...
Emerging Voice: Milton on Black Economic Empowerment, Police
In front of 3,000 protesters at Fresno police headquarters, Chris Milton delivered a strong message on the path from poverty to empowerment. "Build your equity! Your equity. Your equity. That's the thing that cannot be taken from you," Milton said during Sunday's protest over inequality and policing practices following the...