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JAY-Z and Team Roc pay fines for people arrested at Alvin Cole protests in Wisconsin

JAY-Z and Team Roc pay fines for people arrested at Alvin Cole protests in Wisconsin

JAY-Z and Team Roc pay fines for people arrested at Alvin Cole protests in Wisconsin

JAY-Z and Team Roc pay fines for people arrested at Alvin Cole protests in Wisconsin

After posting bond, JAY-Z paid up the fees that several protestors owed, after they were arrested in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on Thursday (Oct. 8). The cause of the protests was that authorities refused to charge the cop who fatally shot 17-year-old Alvin Cole on February 2. Tracy Cole- his mother- was one among the arrested.  

One specific rep of Team Roc– which is his company Roc Nation’s social arm, revealed that the court fees for Tracy, her daughters Taleavia, Tristiana and Tahudah, and others who were arrested at the scene of protests were also paid by the group. The group said the mother was hurt during the arrest by police officers using “excessive force.”

 “Our hearts break for the family of Alvin Cole and the Wauwatosa community. Not only did the District Attorney’s Office fail to hold Officer Joseph Mensah accountable for killing Alvin, but the local police also arrested and injured Alvin’s mother Tracy and his sisters as they peacefully protested alongside Jacob Blake’s father,” the executive director for Team Roc, Dania Diaz, said in a statement.

Protests erupted in the region after people found out that Joseph Mensah, the officer who shot Cole, will not be charged. After police responded to a disturbance call, the teen was fatally shot right outside a Wauwatosa mall. Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber had stated that before Cole was shot, he himself fired a gun.

It was the decision of Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm to not charge Mensah that resulted in the protests. In a press release on Friday, Wauwatosa police stated that about two dozen people were taken into custody on Thursday, and two people required medical attention.

Reacting to the decision, Team Roc wrote on its Instagram page: “In today’s disappointing ruling, DA Chisolm found Officer Mensah not guilty. Contrary to the decision, Officer Mensah was not justified in killing Alvin Cole. 17-year-old Alvin Cole was kneeling when Mensah shot him twice in his back and fired at him three more times while he was face down on the ground. Alvin Cole was not a threat. Officer Mensah killed Alvin Cole with impunity, his 3rd killing on the force in 5 years.”

JAY-Z and Team Roc are also asking Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the shooting. In July, the rapper took out a full-page ad in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calling for Mensah’s prosecution. The Grammy winner and Team Roc sent a letter to Chisholm demanding he prosecute Mensah and planned to support the call to action with a billboard.

According to The Source, their effort was blocked by the Lamar Advertising Company, which claimed the message of “Officer Mensah Must Be Held Accountable” “could have an effect on a future action” or be an “issue with criminal implications.”

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Lindsey Graham says young Black people ‘can go anywhere’ in South Carolina as long they are conservative

Lindsey Graham says young Black people ‘can go anywhere’ in South Carolina as long they are conservative

Lindsey Graham says young Black people ‘can go anywhere’ in South Carolina as long they are conservative

Lindsey Graham says young Black people ‘can go anywhere’ in South Carolina as long they are conservative

On Friday, Senator Lindsey Graham stated that in California, young people of color are safe, if they are not liberal. He was addressing a crowd at a forum for South Carolina Senate candidates, as previously, a scheduled debate between him and his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison got canceled.

He was questioned about police brutality as well las the civil unrest in America as well as California and in turn, he condemned such acts of violence toward minorities, including George Floyd’s killing by police saying his killing “was wrong and people should pay the price,” but also said he has the “cops’ back.”

 “Do I believe that our cops are systemically racist? No. Do I believe that South Carolina is a racist state? No,” the senator said at the event. “To young people out there of color, to young immigrants, this is a great state. The one thing I can say without any doubt, you can be an African American and go to the Senate. You just have to share the values of our state.”

“In South Carolina, folks, it’s not about the color of your skin or where you came from, it’s about your ideas,” the politician continued, talking about Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, “the only African American Republican in the country” and the former governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, who is the “daughter of Indian Americans.”

“I care about everybody,” Graham said. “If you’re a young African American, an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state. You just need to be conservative, not liberal.”

This elections, Graham is competing with Democrat Harrison, a Black former state legislator, for his Senate seat. At the forum, Harrison spoke just before him, as the organizers of the event were coerced into altering the debate format, as Graham did not agree to take a Covid-19 test. Hence, the debate was cancelled and they took turns to be interviewed. 

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Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” go platinum 20 years after their release

Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” go platinum 20 years after their release

Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” go platinum 20 years after their release

Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” go platinum 20 years after their release

It was 20 years ago that Outkast released their popular album Stankonia. Now, their hit singles “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson” have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

As of Thursday, one million copies of “So Fresh, So Clean” were sold (Oct. 8). It was in 2001 that the song was released as the third and final single from their groundbreaking album. On the US Billboard Hot 100 charts back then, the track reached number 30.

According to RIAA, even “Ms. Jackson” touched the 1 million milestone on Thursday. It was on October 17, 2000 that the song was released as a part of Stankonia. For one week in February of 2001, it topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The RIAA also certified the album’s lead single “B.O.B” as platinum. It was released on September 19, 2000 through LaFace Records and Arista.

This news comes the same month as when Andre 3000 and Big Boi were celebrating the 20th anniversary of Stankonia. Recently, the group announced that the LP’s release anniversary will be commemorated on Friday (Oct. 30), through the reissuance of an updated version of their fourth studio album. This will include some unreleased remixes. On Instagram, they have been teasing their fans with ideas for the celebration.

On Thursday, Sony Music announced that streaming bundles and new vinyl and digital download editions of this popular album will be released. Moreover, it will debut on streaming platforms as well. Moreover, a new 2xLP version of the album will also be released by Vinyl Me, Please on black and white galaxy vinyl to subscribers.

Outkast released many hit singles such as “So Fresh, So Clean,” “Miss Jackson” and “B.O.B.” This was one of the most popular projects by the duo. After selling 5,30,000 copies during its first week, the LP peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

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Louisville police gathered negative information about Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend after the shooting

Louisville police gathered negative information about Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend after the shooting

Louisville police gathered negative information about Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend after the shooting

Louisville police gathered negative information about Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend after the shooting

According to documents released pertaining to the internal investigation of Louisville Metro Police Department in relation to the death of Breonna Taylor, there were active efforts from the police department to obtain negative data related to Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, following her fatal shooting.

According to reports, the department was still trying to acquire information related to Walker as it continued to investigate its own set of officers, for fatally shooting Taylor, long after the case was moved to be handed by the office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

The documents related to its internal investigation were released by the police department on Wednesday, about one week after the grand jury recordings were released. These documents were released to the public and were a part of several hundreds of pages and documents of audio and video. It has been reported that one particular officer who partook in the raid attempted to find more information to justify the whole scenario, even after the fatal shooting. 

It was the department’s Public Integrity Unit that conducted the investigation. Police stated that the investigation results included reports, search warrants, interview transcripts, investigative letters, police personnel files and other information. Moreover, bodycam footage from the night of the drug raid that ended up resulting in the of the 26-year-old Black woman was also present. She was shot six times by Louisville police officers, as they were executing a warrant for her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, who no longer stayed in the residence.

Police stated that one shot was fired by Walker at the front door, which ended up hitting an officer. He stated that he thought that their home was being invaded. Then, Walker was arrested and taken in for questioning. Reports stated that he informed the investigators that he owned a gun once that was not the same as his licensed firearm, and that he smoked marijuana from “time to time.”

Among the documents that were released, there was one investigative memo dated July 2, which showcases that one investigator from the Public Integrity Unit scrutinized pictures and text messages from Walker’s phone in late May. The memo stated that in Walker’s phone, there were two pictures, wherein both Walker and Taylor were with an AR-15. According to reports, Internal affairs officers found messages that proved that from October 2019, Walker was selling drugs. Thus, the memo concluded that Walker’s potential drug selling and an alleged robbery “may have contributed to Walker’s actions on March 13, 2020.”

Walker’s attorney in a civil suit against the police department, Steven Romines, has questioned the intentions of uncovering this information, and he also asked as to how this information was relevant to the investigation. Romines dismissed the claims that his client had dealt drugs or committed a robbery.

“It’s just a cover-up,” the lawyer said. “And it reflects the fact that over two months into the investigation of Breonna Taylor’s death, LMPD [was] more interested in including unsupported allegations to smear Kenny Walker than it [was] in actually finding the truth.”

“All they are trying to do is smear him after the fact to justify their actions,” he added.

Walker’s phone’s investigation and the scrutiny related to his alleged drug dealing came to light at a time when the internal affairs began to uncover issues with the warrant for Taylor’s home as well as its execution.

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