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Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher was accosted by a group of young people Thursday during his popular “Live on Patrol” show. Among the insults were: “You stupid b***h,” “I hope you die,” “You dirty ass, dumbass b***h,” “Go suck some more d***,” and “I hope you die, b***h.” “That’s Bob Fletcher, bro,” said one of the kids. Fletcher later explained they were likely upset because Ramsey County deputies arrested their friends for auto theft. “They’re friends of people that we’ve arrested in these stolen cars. They know that we’re out there arresting them in Kias and Hyundais on a regular...

Taaffe to testify to Grand Jury that he couldn’t be sure “racist call” was from Zimmerman.Earlier this month we posted news that Frank Taafe, a self-proclaimed “friend” of George Zimmerman, was going to testify before a Grand Jury that he now believed Zimmerman had a racist motivation for the shooting of Trayvon Martin. This news came just days before the hotly contested November 4 election in which the Democrats took the same kind of beating that Trayvon delivered to Zimmerman, but without the benefit of being armed. (See: Key Witness for Zimmerman Grand Jury Changes Story.) Taaffe’s Grand Jury appearance,...

Trayvon Martin never lived to see his 18th birthday, but the slain Florida teenager is slowly becoming one of the most important figures in the modern civil rights era. Martin was walking to his home in a gated Florida neighborhood in 2012 when neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman mistook him for a burglar. After a brief struggle, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, an act that a jury later deemed justified. The case aroused racial tensions and immediately became a cause celebre among activists who believed that police did not follow through on charging Zimmerman simply because Martin was a...

The controversial figure of Trayvon Martin is either a civil rights icon or a thug depending on who you talk to about the issue. With the one year anniversary of the George Zimmerman trial having just passed recently, some people fear these tensions could erupt into riots in major cities. In a related report by The Inquisitr, the name of Trayvon Martin was used as a slur by one woman, and she was arrested as a result. President Obama made a controversial remark recently when he talked about black people “acting white.” Last week, some people contended that the George...

A narrow stairwell at Florida Memorial University leads to rooms filled with collages and paintings from around the country. While the artwork varies in style, there’s one common theme: almost all of the pieces depict a young man in a hooded sweatshirt. This is the headquarters of the Trayvon Martin Foundation, established by Martin’s parents after the Miami Gardens teen was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted last year after a racially charged, contentious trial. The historically black university hosted a ceremony Thursday that started and ended with prayer and was filled with spiritual references. The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – More than 200 African American men, ranging from a taxi driver to university professors, sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday urging him to expand his Black male initiative to include Black girls and women, saying they were “surprised and disappointed” that the president had sought to include only half of the race to tackle community-wide issues. A copy of the letter to Obama was obtained by the NNPA News Service. After praising the president for saying that addressing the needs of those left behind is as important as anything else he is undertaking, authors...

Afeni Shakur has been tapped as the keynote speaker for The Trayvon Martin Foundation's "Circle of Mothers Empowerment Retreat." The purpose of the weekend event is "to comfort , inspire, and empower mothers who have experienced the loss of a child due to senseless gun violence."​ “Like myself, Afeni Shakur has had her loss played out in the public eye," says the foundation's founder and Trayvon's mother, Sybrina​ Fulton, of the late Tupac's mom. ​"​We, partnered with Lisa Nichols, will be able to impart the tools and wisdom we've gathered to help everyone that attends." The foundation was formed shortly...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder strongly hinted on Thursday that the government will soon determine if George Zimmerman will face federal civil rights charges in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin. A self-appointed neighborhood watch patrolman, Zimmerman was acquitted by a Florida jury of murder charges last year and soon thereafter the federal government announced that the Justice Department would be probing the case for any civil rights violations that might have occurred. The 17-year-old Martin was unarmed and just steps away from the doorsteps of his father's gated community home when Zimmerman ignored a police dispatcher's stern advice to...

The parents of Trayvon Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, are suing Roseanne Barr for tweeting their home address in what they say was an attempt to send vigilantes after them. Robert Zimmerman and Gladys Zimmerman's lawsuit says the actress and comedian also said she herself might go to their home herself. They said she posted their private information in violation of Twitter's privacy policies. “Roseanne Barr knew at the time of her tweets and her threat to personally come to the Zimmerman's home that it was an open and obvious call for vigilante justice… intended by Roseanne Barr to cause a...

More than a thousand people marched on the state Capitol today demanding a repeal of Stand Your Ground legislation. When they left, they left with a threat. Led by the Reverend Al Sharpton, police estimate 1200 people came from as far as Miami with a common goal. “We’re trying to amend the Stand Your Ground law,” said Virginia Lawrence of College Park, GA. “Can you imagine all the injustice?” On stage, Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-Jacksonville) called the state and Stand Your Ground “stuck on stupid.” Trayvon Martin’s mother said she would not let her son die in vain. “Right is...

Race-RiotsJohn J. Owens is absolutely sure race had nothing to do with the reason why 30 black people attacked five white people, including a mom and a baby, near Macon Georgia last week. The alleged assailants and victims could have been any race. “Color doesn’t matter, only the ‘idiot factor’ matters,” opined Mr. Owens in the Macon Telegraph. That means the rest is random. Anyone who ever took — and passed — a course in elementary statistics might wander about why Mr. Owens is so willing to dismiss race as a factor in the violence. Because the odds of 30...

<p>The Game will throw his hat in the ring to fight George Zimmerman in the upcoming celebrity boxing match, and he tells TMZ, "I will beat the f**k out of him."</p> <p>Zimmerman has agreed to the March 1 celebrity boxing match ... the promoter hasn't selected his opponent, but is taking offers at fightgeorge@hotmail.com.</p>

Church Nativity Scene Replaces Jesus with Bloody Trayvon Martin By Russell Goldman Dec 28, 2013 HT trayvon nativity nt 131227 16x9 608 Church Nativity Scene Replaces Jesus with Bloody Trayvon Martin John Zachary created a Nativity scene for Claremont United Methodist Church that employs a figure of Trayvon Martin as a commentary on gun violence. (David Allen/Daily Bulletin) A California church sought to make people think about the repercussions of violence, by replacing the baby Jesus with a bloody sculpture of Trayvon Martin in a nativity scene. What they got instead were threats. The crèche outside the church Claremont United...

"Facing Our Truth: 10-Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege," a free showcase of plays and a folk opera addressing the subject of race in the United States, will be featured at the City University of New York Graduate Center Dec. 6, according to the New York Times. The showcase comes from the New Black Fest and will be presented at 6:30 PM in the Graduate Center's Martin E. Segal Theater. A post-show discussion will follow the performance. The evening will feature Some Other Kid by A. Rey Pamatmat, Night Vision by Dominique Morisseau, Colored by Winter Miller, The Ballad...

Lesson: Don’t punch someone who is holding a camera.In November, we told you about the woman who took a photo (left) of the man who allegedly punched her at Broad and Arch, a split second after he hit her in broad daylight. That same man was also accused of punching another woman within the same week at a SEPTA station at Broad and Erie. Now, police have a suspect in custody. Colt Younger, 26, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of simple assault and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and harassment. That’s his...

Ever so slowly, reporters are starting to figure out a version of black mob violence called the Knockout Game. The first chip in the wall fell in New York, where Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said last week that Orthodox Jews in Crown Heights were the victims of eight episodes of mob violence and vandalism. He did not see a pattern. But the New York Post did, reporting: “The way the game is played, one of a number of young blacks decides to show that he can knock down some stranger on the streets, preferably with one punch, as they pass...

WASHINGTON (WJLA) - Phoebe Connolly says she had no idea what was coming when she biked through a group of teens in Columbia Heights. "My whole head went flying to the side," she explains. "It was a hard punch. One kid came from the side and pretty much cut me off. "He just like threw a hook with his left hand, and just got me right in the face," she continues. "And he said 'wa-pow' as he hit me in the face." Phoebe says she was able to pedal away, but was left sore and with a bloody nose. Otherwise,...

The teenage gunman who allegedly opened fire on a crowded ice-skating rink over a pricey jacket — hitting two people, including a boy who may never walk again — was all smiles and swear words as cops hauled him from a police precinct Monday. “F— all you ni–as! It wasn’t over a jacket, it was over your mother, ni–a!,” a beaming 16-year-old Corey Dunton yelled at photographers outside the police Manhattan Midtown South police precinct.

A group of 10 black youths blocked a white couple’s car in the New York borough of Brooklyn, brutally beating the husband and slamming the wife’s head into the pavement by her hair as they shouted racial epithets, officials said. Ronald Russo, 30, and his wife, Alanna, 30, were stopped at a red light Monday night when the group crossed Avenue U at East 58th Street, the New York Daily News reported. Mr. Russo honked his horn when the light turned green to get the youths out of the way, but they then began kicking the car, according to the...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday said the Justice Department has not decided whether to file federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin in an incident that captured national interest, was acquitted of murder charges in July. But the Justice Department could still pursue a federal civil rights case. Holder said the agency’s investigation is under way. “I'm not sure exactly how much longer that will take, but we will get to a point where we are able to make a...