Latest news with #BlackAmerican
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Family wants footage of police death in custody
The family of a young Aboriginal man who died after being forcibly restrained by police officers wants footage of the incident to be released to them so they can understand what happened. The incident could lead to the postponement of the Northern Territory coroner's release of findings into the notorious police shooting death of Indigenous teen Kumanjayi Walker in an outback town in 2019. A mentally disabled 24-year-old was forced to the floor by two plain-clothes officers on Tuesday, following an alleged shoplifting incident and assault on a security guard in Alice Springs. The man was handcuffed but lost consciousness and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards at Alice Springs Hospital. A woman who witnessed the incident told the NT News one of the officers "had his knee behind his head". An autopsy on Wednesday did not determine the cause of death, police have said, and CCTV and security guard body-worn camera footage is being viewed. The young man's grandfather, Yuendumu elder and Warlpiri man Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said the family was "in the dark about what really happened" and he had asked his lawyer for access to the footage. "Family representatives need to see all available footage of this incident immediately - both CCTV and body cam so we can understand what happened to my jaja (grandson)," he said. The man's death has prompted his original home community of Yuendumu to consider postponing a June 10 visit by Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to announce her findings into the 2019. Mr Walker was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty on all charges over the 19-year-old's death in 2022. Mr Hargraves said the community was talking about postponing the June 10 event "because of all these troubles happening right now, it's too much". "We are terrified. We are shattered. We are frustrated. This is happening again and again,'' he told AAP. "They (police) are saying they want to come and say sorry to us - no. We can't go on saying sorry, sorry, sorry." Mr Hargraves said his grandson was a "skinny bloke" who had excess pressure put on him. He referred to the case of Black American George Floyd, who died after being held to the ground with a Minneapolis police officer's knee on his neck in 2020. "What are the police doing using such force on a vulnerable young man in a supermarket? Did they even try to de-escalate?" Mr Hargraves said. "We cannot tolerate this situation, with continued brutality and lack of respect." The dead man is understood to have been under a guardianship order and on an NDIS plan. Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst has offered his condolences to the family. He said police would investigate the incident "with an objective lens". Indigenous Australians Minister and NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said it was devastating news that a man "just searching for some food" had died and she had talked to the family to express her sympathy. She said the Yuendumu community had gone through a traumatic time after Mr Walker's death and the latest loss heightened concerns over keeping calm in the community on all sides. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
West Australian
3 days ago
- West Australian
Family wants footage of police death in custody
The family of a young Aboriginal man who died after being forcibly restrained by police officers wants footage of the incident to be released to them so they can understand what happened. The incident could lead to the postponement of the Northern Territory coroner's release of findings into the notorious police shooting death of Indigenous teen Kumanjayi Walker in an outback town in 2019. A mentally disabled 24-year-old was forced to the floor by two plain-clothes officers on Tuesday, following an alleged shoplifting incident and assault on a security guard in Alice Springs. The man was handcuffed but lost consciousness and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards at Alice Springs Hospital. A woman who witnessed the incident told the NT News one of the officers "had his knee behind his head". An autopsy on Wednesday did not determine the cause of death, police have said, and CCTV and security guard body-worn camera footage is being viewed. The young man's grandfather, Yuendumu elder and Warlpiri man Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said the family was "in the dark about what really happened" and he had asked his lawyer for access to the footage. "Family representatives need to see all available footage of this incident immediately - both CCTV and body cam so we can understand what happened to my jaja (grandson)," he said. The man's death has prompted his original home community of Yuendumu to consider postponing a June 10 visit by Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to announce her findings into the 2019. Mr Walker was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty on all charges over the 19-year-old's death in 2022. Mr Hargraves said the community was talking about postponing the June 10 event "because of all these troubles happening right now, it's too much". "We are terrified. We are shattered. We are frustrated. This is happening again and again,'' he told AAP. "They (police) are saying they want to come and say sorry to us - no. We can't go on saying sorry, sorry, sorry." Mr Hargraves said his grandson was a "skinny bloke" who had excess pressure put on him. He referred to the case of Black American George Floyd, who died after being held to the ground with a Minneapolis police officer's knee on his neck in 2020. "What are the police doing using such force on a vulnerable young man in a supermarket? Did they even try to de-escalate?" Mr Hargraves said. "We cannot tolerate this situation, with continued brutality and lack of respect." The dead man is understood to have been under a guardianship order and on an NDIS plan. Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst has offered his condolences to the family. He said police would investigate the incident "with an objective lens". Indigenous Australians Minister and NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said it was devastating news that a man "just searching for some food" had died and she had talked to the family to express her sympathy. She said the Yuendumu community had gone through a traumatic time after Mr Walker's death and the latest loss heightened concerns over keeping calm in the community on all sides. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Perth Now
Family wants footage of police death in custody
The family of a young Aboriginal man who died after being forcibly restrained by police officers wants footage of the incident to be released to them so they can understand what happened. The incident could lead to the postponement of the Northern Territory coroner's release of findings into the notorious police shooting death of Indigenous teen Kumanjayi Walker in an outback town in 2019. A mentally disabled 24-year-old was forced to the floor by two plain-clothes officers on Tuesday, following an alleged shoplifting incident and assault on a security guard in Alice Springs. The man was handcuffed but lost consciousness and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards at Alice Springs Hospital. A woman who witnessed the incident told the NT News one of the officers "had his knee behind his head". An autopsy on Wednesday did not determine the cause of death, police have said, and CCTV and security guard body-worn camera footage is being viewed. The young man's grandfather, Yuendumu elder and Warlpiri man Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said the family was "in the dark about what really happened" and he had asked his lawyer for access to the footage. "Family representatives need to see all available footage of this incident immediately - both CCTV and body cam so we can understand what happened to my jaja (grandson)," he said. The man's death has prompted his original home community of Yuendumu to consider postponing a June 10 visit by Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to announce her findings into the 2019. Mr Walker was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe during a bungled arrest. Mr Rolfe was found not guilty on all charges over the 19-year-old's death in 2022. Mr Hargraves said the community was talking about postponing the June 10 event "because of all these troubles happening right now, it's too much". "We are terrified. We are shattered. We are frustrated. This is happening again and again,'' he told AAP. "They (police) are saying they want to come and say sorry to us - no. We can't go on saying sorry, sorry, sorry." Mr Hargraves said his grandson was a "skinny bloke" who had excess pressure put on him. He referred to the case of Black American George Floyd, who died after being held to the ground with a Minneapolis police officer's knee on his neck in 2020. "What are the police doing using such force on a vulnerable young man in a supermarket? Did they even try to de-escalate?" Mr Hargraves said. "We cannot tolerate this situation, with continued brutality and lack of respect." The dead man is understood to have been under a guardianship order and on an NDIS plan. Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst has offered his condolences to the family. He said police would investigate the incident "with an objective lens". Indigenous Australians Minister and NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said it was devastating news that a man "just searching for some food" had died and she had talked to the family to express her sympathy. She said the Yuendumu community had gone through a traumatic time after Mr Walker's death and the latest loss heightened concerns over keeping calm in the community on all sides. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636
Time of India
3 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Harvard settles lawsuit over enslaved ancestor images
Harvard University (File photo) NEW YORK: Harvard University has agreed to settle a deeply emotional dispute over who has the rights to images of enslaved Africans taken in 1850 by a professor who sought to support a racist theory. The daguerrotypes, a precursor to modern photographs, are considered to be the earliest known images of Black American slaves, who were posed nude and semi-nude "without consent, dignity or compensation," a 2019 lawsuit stated. The Cambridge institution has agreed to relinquish the images and has offered plaintiff Tamara Lanier a confidential monetary settlement. Lanier says she is a descendant of a slave known only by his first name, Renty, who was photographed nude, and his daughter Delia, who was photographed nude from the waist up, in images commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz as supposed evidence of Black inferiority. The images were taken in South Carolina, and Lanier is advocating for them to be transferred to the International African American Museum there. Lanier accused the university of using them for advertising and commercial purposes, and denounced the use of Renty's image on a cover of a $40 anthropology book it published in 2017. "Since Black Americans were first brought to this country in chains, our pain and trauma have been exploited for capitalistic gain," said Lanier. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like IIMK Strategic Management IIMK ASMP Apply Now Undo Lanier claimed rights to the images 15 years ago, but Harvard has long-disputed the claim that she is Renty's great-great-great-granddaughter. "As descendants of slaves, familial history and well-documented genealogy are a luxury that many Black Americans do not have," Lanier said, who relied on her family's oral history to determine the connection in lineage. In a statement on the settlement, Harvard said they have "long been eager" to steward "the daguerrotypes in a responsible manner." In his time Agassiz, a Swiss-born biologist, was a renowned scientist who worked in geology. But Lanier's attorney Ben Crump said Agassiz also supported polygenism, which was "used to justify both the ongoing enslavement of Black people prior to the Civil War and their segregation afterward." The daguerrotypes were in the possession of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to date. "Harvard played a role in the darkest chapter in American history," Lanier said. "This is a small step in the right direction towards fully acknowledging that history and working to rectify it." The stain of Agassiz's work has been controversial elsewhere, too. He had an elementary school named after him near Harvard -- but local residents successfully demanded the name be changed to honor a long-serving Black principal Maria Louise Baldwin in 2002, citing his scientific racism.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Harvard settles lawsuit over enslaved ancestor images
Harvard University has agreed to settle a deeply emotional dispute over who has the rights to images of enslaved Africans taken in 1850 by a professor who sought to support a racist theory. The daguerrotypes, a precursor to modern photographs, are considered to be the earliest known images of Black American slaves, who were posed nude and semi-nude "without consent, dignity or compensation," a 2019 lawsuit stated. The Cambridge institution has agreed to relinquish the images and has offered plaintiff Tamara Lanier a confidential monetary settlement. Lanier says she is a descendant of a slave known only by his first name, Renty, who was photographed nude, and his daughter Delia, who was photographed nude from the waist up, in images commissioned by Harvard biologist Louis Agassiz as supposed evidence of Black inferiority. The images were taken in South Carolina, and Lanier is advocating for them to be transferred to the International African American Museum there. Lanier accused the university of using them for advertising and commercial purposes, and denounced the use of Renty's image on a cover of a $40 anthropology book it published in 2017. "Since Black Americans were first brought to this country in chains, our pain and trauma have been exploited for capitalistic gain," said Lanier. Lanier claimed rights to the images 15 years ago, but Harvard has long-disputed the claim that she is Renty's great-great-great-granddaughter. "As descendants of slaves, familial history and well-documented genealogy are a luxury that many Black Americans do not have," Lanier said, who relied on her family's oral history to determine the connection in lineage. In a statement on the settlement, Harvard said they have "long been eager" to steward "the daguerrotypes in a responsible manner." In his time Agassiz, a Swiss-born biologist, was a renowned scientist who worked in geology. But Lanier's attorney Ben Crump said Agassiz also supported polygenism, which was "used to justify both the ongoing enslavement of Black people prior to the Civil War and their segregation afterward." The daguerrotypes were in the possession of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to date. "Harvard played a role in the darkest chapter in American history," Lanier said. "This is a small step in the right direction towards fully acknowledging that history and working to rectify it." The stain of Agassiz's work has been controversial elsewhere, too. He had an elementary school named after him near Harvard -- but local residents successfully demanded the name be changed to honor a long-serving Black principal Maria Louise Baldwin in 2002, citing his scientific racism. arb/gl/sla/jgc
