2015 Congressional Black Caucus ALC Special Issue inside
I N S I D E
I N S I D E
Will Cummings Enter Maryland Senate Race? Pg 10
Diana Ross the ‘Boss’ Ready for the Stage, Pg 37
Howard Students Angered Over Poor Services, Pg 18
Annual Book Festival Draws Record Crowds, Pg 38
Vol. 50, No. 48 SEPT 10 - SEPT 16 , 2015
The six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray will be tried separately. Top row from left: Caesar Goodson, Garrett Miller and Edward Nero, and bottom row from left: William Porter, Lt. Brian Rice and Sgt. Alicia White. /Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Police Department
Baltimore Agrees to Huge Settlement with Gray Family
$6.4 Million Deal Comes on Heals of Police Pre-Trail Rulings By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer Baltimore city officials have reportedly reached a $6.4 million settlement in the wrongful death of Freddie Gray, who sustained fatal neck injuries while in police custody in April, according to NBC News. The deal still needs to be approved by Baltimore’s spending overseer, the Board of Estimates. A vote on the proposal will take place on Wednesday. The proposed settlement “should not be interpreted as a judgment on the guilt or innocence of the officers facing trial,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. “This settlement is being proposed
solely because it is in the best interest of the city, avoids costly and protracted litigation that would only make it more difficult for our city to heal and potentially cost taxpayers many millions more in damages,” Rawlings-Blake said. Former Washington D.C. assistant U.S. attorney Laura Coates appeared on CNN on Tuesday to discuss the settlement which she said could affect the criminal trial against the six Baltimore police officers charged in Gray’s death. Gray, 25, was arrested on a weapons charge April 12 but suffered a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody and, a week later, he died of those wounds.
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President Barack Obama at a previous Sept. 11 anniversary event at the Pentagon. /Courtesy photo
District to Observe Sept. 11 Anniversary Several Events Scheduled Including Pope’s Visit By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer It would immediately become one of those days when, wherever an individual stood or sat; whatever someone was doing; they’d always remember. A series of early-morning rush hour attacks in the heart of the Big Apple that would also include the Nation’s Capital and a rural Pennsylvania town, turned America and the world on its collective heads like no other event in history.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Jihad terrorists hijacked commercial jets full of passengers and slammed two of them into the World Trade Center towers, toppling both in – what the New York Times aptly described as – a hellish storm of ash, glass, smoke and leaping victims, while a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon here. A fourth flight, which was determined to be targeted for the White House, crashed near Pittsburgh after passengers on the jet fought the terrorists. More than 3,000 individuals were killed during the attacks, in-
cluding over 400 police and firefighters. The event also led to a war in Afghanistan and Iraq in an effort to decimate – if not destroy – the Taliban terror group led by Osama bin Laden. It also led to the toppling and eventual execution of Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein and ultimately, four years ago, the capture and killing of bin Laden in Pakistan. “Where were you when JFK was shot? What about King? Of course, the September 11 attacks
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