A former Iowa City police officer is suing the city, alleging racial discrimination related to excessive-force complaints. Emilio M. Puente is seeking unspecified damages for alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. According to the lawsuit, the Iowa City Police Department hired Puente in April […]
Police Brutality
Posted inCommunity/News
Great Plains Action Society unites Indigenous Midwesterners to seek justice for state violence, past and present
Sikowis Nobiss has two kids at home, both in elementary school. She has a full-time job and volunteers on Iowa City’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “Ugh, trying to deal with COVID and just keep the house clean? That’s my day today,” she said. Nobiss is the founder of Great Plains Action Society (GPAS), a nonprofit […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Revolution and Beatitudes of Black Liberation: A video essay by Stacey Walker
Produced by Little Village in partnership with Witching Hour and Englert Wavelength Below is an excerpt from Walker’s essay, published in Little Village’s February 2021 issue. What is Black Liberation? What does it mean to be free? Black people have been fighting for liberation since we arrived on the shores of what would come to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Freedom Riders: Nobody deserves prison, including the man who could have killed us
“That’s bullshit.” “This is not justice.” “Disappointed, but not surprised.” “What he did is a terroristic act and should be in prison for it.” The news that Michael Ray Stepanek, an Iowa City man who intentionally drove through a crowd of racial justice protesters on Aug. 21 in order to give them an “attitude adjustment,” […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa lawmakers unanimously pass a bill to address police violence
The Iowa legislature passed a major bill aimed at limiting violent police behavior, little more than two hours after it was introduced on Thursday evening. The bill was unanimously approved by committees and in floor votes in both the Iowa House of Representatives and Senate. “Too long have black mothers waited for their sons to […]
Posted inOpinion
Democracy in Crisis: Memo hysteria and a Baltimore corruption trial highlight the state of law enforcement in 2018
The national media was largely silent about the vast police misconduct revealed in the Baltimore trial, even though they dovetailed in some uncomfortable ways with the Memo Watch hysteria.
Posted inCommunity/News
Black lives focus of UI Pentacrest protest against police brutality
Set against the background of recent violent police scenarios across the nation, protestors — of various races and ethnicities — united forces in a peaceful protest against police brutality Thursday evening. Over 100 people claimed a spot on the University of Iowa Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City to show solidarity for the Black lives injured […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Ped Mall protest: Community members to rally against police brutality
Community members will gather on the Ped Mall tonight at 6:30 p.m. for a demonstration in support of the victims of police brutality. The rally, organized…
