Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
A woman livestreamed the heartbreaking moments after her boyfriend was shot and killed by a cop in Minnesota late Wednesday. In a Facebook video, Lavish Reynolds claims that the couple was pulled over in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for a busted taillight and that her boyfriend, identified by WCCO as Philando Castile, was shot four…
On July 5, two white Baton Rouge police officers were involved in a deadly altercation with 37-year-old black man Alton Sterling. Sterling was pinned down by the officers and fatally shot. His death has sparked protests and anger. (BatonRougeCrime.com) A bystander video showing two white police officers involved in a deadly altercation with a 37-year-old…
A man cleared of rape who must give police 24 hours’ notice before he has sex is to go on hunger strike in protest over the ruling. The man, who is in his 40s and cannot be named for legal reasons, was acquitted at a retrial in 2015, but is the subject of an interim…
Secret FBI rules allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures. The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013, govern the FBI’s use of national security letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a…
When Samya Moftah walked into the Macy’s flagship New York store looking for gifts for her family last summer, she did not expect to be locked in a basement cell and charged with multiple crimes. Nor did the department store, already blighted by allegations of racism, expect to have another lawsuit on its hands. Moftah,…
Have you ever wondered what kind of information DEA narcs are trading internally about the durably popular subculture known as “rave parties”? Wonder no more, for non-profit news site Muckrock has FOIA’ed up just that for you, and boy is she a beauty. In the course of researching the DEA’s files on chemist Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin, known…
Your Twitter handle may soon be part of the US visa process. Yesterday, US Customs and Border Patrol entered a new proposal into the federal register, suggesting a new field in which persons entering the country can declare their various social media accounts and screen names. The information wouldn’t be mandatory, but the proposed field would…
Since the shooting at an Orlando nightclub last week that left 49 people dead, reports have emerged that gunman Omar Mateen frequented the gay club, used gay dating apps and had gay lovers. But the FBI has found no evidence so far to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or communicated…
Picture a messy, frightening, real-life Pieter Bruegel painting in 21st century Louisiana, and you get a sense of what Shane Bauer’s life was like for four months in 2015. Seemingly interminable fights and stabbings. Prison guards with rap sheets. Rapes, suicidal inmates, and lockdowns. Cost-conscious bosses who endangered guards and prisoners with deep cuts to…
Photo People who have used Ticketmaster may be in line for free tickets as the result of a class-action lawsuit. Credit Paul Sakuma/Associated Press Many Ticketmaster users were thrilled over the weekend to discover that they were given vouchers for free and discounted tickets, the fruits of a 13-year-old lawsuit against the company over its…