Cops Acquitted in NYC Groom Shooting

(AP) - Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who became an outfitter to the stars and fought the federal government over claims he underpaid followers for church work, was convicted today in Arkansas of taking five girls across state lines for sex. The jury of nine men and three women found Alamo guilty of transporting girls as young as 9, in violation of a nearly century-old federal law. More»

Cosby launched conversation in 2004, journalist argues

(NEWSER) - The black community has already started the conversation Barack Obama wants, prominent conservative Myron Magnet writes in City Journal. Liberal icons Bill Cosby and Juan Williams have declared that it’s time for African Americans to take responsibility for their own destiny. They’re telling truths that have left black conservatives “unthinkingly ostracized as race traitors for breaking with orthodoxy” for decades. More»

FBI begins civil-rights investigation; racial tensions may heat up

(NEWSER) - A man accused of killing a police officer was strangled to death Sunday in a Maryland county jail, coroners have ruled. State police have taken over the case, and the FBI is investigating on civil-rights grounds, the Washington Post reports. “We live in a constitutional democracy, and no one has the right to be judge and jury,” fumed one county executive. More»

Sharpton upset they haven't been fired

(NEWSER) - The New York cops who were acquitted last month after firing more than 50 bullets at an unarmed man on his wedding day will face police department disciplinary action, Reuters reports. Seven officers are on the hot seat, including the three who were cleared of criminal charges last month, and will now face internal charges mirroring those, an NYPD spokesman said yesterday. Also being called to task are one other shooter, two crime scene detectives, and their commanding officer. More»

Hundreds march against acquittal of officers in shooting

(NEWSER) - New York City police arrested the Rev. Al Sharpton and the fiancée and mother of Sean Bell today during protests over the April 25 acquittal of three officers who shot Bell to death in a 50-bullet barrage. Hundreds blocked traffic at the Brooklyn Bridge and other city hot spots, the New York Post reports. Dozens were arrested, including two of Bell's friends who survived the 2006 shooting. More»