Both sides in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter, one of six officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death while in police custody, delivered opening statements to a mostly black jury Wednesday, NBC News reports. After Gray’s arrest in April, police officers put handcuffs and ankle shackles on the 25-year-old. They placed him in…

Law-enforcement officials arrested a suspect accused of threatening to kill white men at the University of Chicago, CNN reports. Jabari Dean, 21, allegedly posted his threat on social media over the Thanksgiving weekend. It stated that he would shoot 16 white male students or staff at the campus Monday morning. The message noted that the…

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke walked out of jail Monday night after posting $150,000 bail—that’s 10 percent of his $1.5 million bond, USA Today reports. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder for gunning down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald last year. The police dash-cam video of the shooting, released just last week by a judge’s order,…

Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer, testified Monday before the grand jury investigating the case, WKYC reports. The family’s attorney, Subodh Chandra, released a statement following her appearance, which lasted less than 90 minutes. “Ms. Rice told the grand jury about how she learned about…

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held court with black ministers on Monday, and they urged him to tone down his racial rhetoric, the Associated Press reports. After the meeting, Trump said that “most” of the pastors there endorsed him, according to The Hill. Controversy has surrounded the meeting at Trump’s headquarters in New York City.…

Ke’Arre M. Stewart, an Iraq War veteran, was one of the victims of Friday’s attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., KKTV reports. Stewart’s sister told KKTV that he was shot outside the building while talking on his cellphone. Although wounded, he called 911 and went back inside the clinic to warn others.…

One of the Minneapolis police officers under investigation for fatally shooting Jamar Clark was sued for excessive force, in a separate case, 10 days before the Clark shooting, the Star Tribune reports. Nathaniel Hanson alleges in his federal lawsuit that Officer Dustin Schwarze deployed a Taser three times at him during a 2011 traffic stop.…

Atlanta police have pieced together how 6-year-old Ja’Mecca Smith died Saturday morning. Authorities said on Sunday that she discovered a loaded gun between the cushions of a sofa at her home and somehow shot herself in the head, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The police also said they arrested her father, Demarqo Smith, who faces involuntary…

Donald Trump’s campaign announced last week that at least 100 black ministers and religious leaders would endorse him on Monday for president. But Sunday night, he abruptly canceled that press conference, the Associated Press reports. The sudden cancellation comes after several invited ministers said they were blindsided. Using social media, they acknowledged Trump’s invitation to…

After failing three previous times, Victor Mooney managed to complete his solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. He arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City on Friday and will celebrate his accomplishment at the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday, the Associated Press reports. But Monday’s ceremony will not just be a celebration of…