TAMIR RICE

A Michigan police officer has been charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head as the Black man was on the ground.

Before Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and other Black people died at the hands of white police officers or self-appointed vigilantes, there was Martin Lee Anderson.

Trayvon Martin was visiting his father in Sanford, Florida, when the 17-year-old Black teen was fatally shot Feb. 26, 2012, during a confrontation with George Zimmerman.

The Justice Department says it will not reopen the federal investigation into the 2014 death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot to death by Cleveland police.

A suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for a Taser was led away in handcuffs Thursday after a jury found her guilty of manslaughter in the death of Black motorist Daunte Wright.

A Florida school board is halting the use of a fictional book about a Black boy who is killed by a white officer after a police union complained to the school district that it is propaganda.

The Justice Department is sending a strong signal about its priorities these days.

The fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant as she swung a knife toward another girl has raised questions about why the Ohio officer chose to fire his weapon.

Calls have grown for federal investigations into police killings across the nation since President Joe Biden took office and said he believes racial disparities in policing must change.

The family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014, is asking the Justice Department to reopen the case into his death after it was closed near the end of the Trump administration.

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, brother of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. Prude said Wednesday that videos recorded by Rochester Police officers' body cameras after they caught up with Daniel Prude, naked on a frigid night last March, are irrefutable proof of a crime. The officers’ attorneys said Daniel Prude’s use of PCP, which caused irrational behavior, was “the root cause” of his death. AdThe attorney general also called for communities to minimize or eliminate police responses to mental health calls. Nathaniel McFarland, one of Daniel Prude's five children, said he was not surprised that the officers weren't charged.

The case has spurred outrage as the latest example of law enforcement mistreatment of Black people, and one that shows even Black children are not exempt. Research shows Black children are often viewed as being older than they are, and are more likely to be seen as threatening or dangerous. Advocates have long said that leads to police treating them in ways they wouldn’t dream of treating white children. A study published in the journal Pediatrics in late 2020 found Black children and teenagers were six times as likely to die from police gunfire as white children. New York isn't the only place where police treatment of Black children has been a flashpoint.

Andre Hill, fatally shot by Columbus police on Dec. 22, is memorialized on a shirt worn by his daughter, Karissa Hill, on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Karissa Hill said she considered her father an everything man because he did so many things. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)COLUMBUS, Ohio – The life of Andre Hill was commemorated Tuesday morning as family and lawmakers called for justice to be brought against the white Columbus police officer who fatally shot the 47-year-old days before Christmas. Dozens gathered at the First Church of God in the city’s southwest side — clad in their Sunday best and Black Lives Matter masks — to honor Hill’s life. Sharpton saluted Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city officials for ordering the firing of Coy less than a week after he shot Hill.

To bring federal civil rights charges in cases like these, the Justice Department must prove that an officer’s actions willfully broke the law and are not simply the result of a mistake, negligence or bad judgment. But the video reviewed by federal prosecutors makes the sequence of events less clear. Neither of two witnesses who either saw part of the encounter or reported hearing gunshots said they saw exactly what Rice was doing just before the shooting, according to the Justice Department. In a statement at the scene to three other law enforcement officers, Loehmann “repeatedly and consistently stated” that Tamir was reaching for a gun before he shot him, prosecutors said. Both Loehmann and Garmback also said in statements after the shooting that Loehmann had given Tamir “multiple commands to show his hands before shooting” and both officers saw him reaching for the weapon.

To bring federal civil rights charges in cases like these, the Justice Department must prove that an officer’s actions willfully broke the law and are not simply the result of a mistake, negligence or bad judgment. But the video reviewed by federal prosecutors makes the sequence of events less clear. Neither of two witnesses who either saw part of the encounter or reported hearing gunshots said they saw exactly what Rice was doing just before the shooting, according to the Justice Department. In a statement at the scene to three other law enforcement officers, Loehmann “repeatedly and consistently stated” that Tamir was reaching for a gun before he shot him, prosecutors said. Both Loehmann and Garmback also said in statements after the shooting that Loehmann had given Tamir “multiple commands to show his hands before shooting” and both officers saw him reaching for the weapon.

The NBA painted “Black Lives Matter” on the courts inside their Orlando, Florida, “bubble" and social justice messages were emblazoned on the backs of jerseys. Paul met with NBA players, and they decided awareness wasn’t enough anymore. “Black Lives Matter” also was featured prominently on the league’s courts. Wallace, the only full-time Black driver at the NASCAR national level, first began speaking out against racial injustice in America in the spring. His car featured a “Black Lives Matter” paint scheme.

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2020, file photo, Naomi Osaka, of Japan, holds up the championship trophy after defeating Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, in the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York. Osaka has been selected by The Associated Press as the Female Athlete of the Year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)With tennis, like so much of the world, shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Naomi Osaka found herself with time to read and think. LeBron James was announced Saturday as the AP Male Athlete of the Year. I cannot be more excited.”___Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Protesters hold signs spelling the name of Casey Goodson Jr., a Black man fatally shot Dec. 4 by a white Ohio sheriff's deputy, on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Marshal Peter Tobin said he made statements based on “insufficient information” he received before the beginning of an official investigation into the Dec. 4 killing of Casey Goodson J r. by a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy. Messages were left for Meade's attorney and for the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. Hundreds walked from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office south of downtown to the Statehouse and a few blocks north Friday night. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office does not provide officers with body cameras, and the deputy’s SWAT vehicle did not have a dash-mounted camera.

MIAMI – The moment seemed to capture the super-heated emotions of a summer of national protest: A young Black teenager whacked a Miami police officer over the head with a skateboard during a chaotic demonstration. Today, they text frequently about football, family and life. “It was important to me as a young Black man to go out there and stand with my people,” he said. OFFICER WASHINGTONAmong the officers was Washington, a slender officer who was on duty with his identical twin brother, Jayson, also a Miami cop. Marshall began sobbing as he read the three-page apology letter he’d spent days poring over.

Naomi Osaka, of Japan, reacts during the women's singles final against Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, during the US Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, in New York. Surprisingly off-kilter in the early going Saturday, Osaka kept missing shots and digging herself a deficit. By the end, Osaka pulled away to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory for her second U.S. Open championship and third Grand Slam title overall. But Osaka regained control, breaking to start a match-ending run of three games, covering her face when the final was over. Osaka and her coach have said they think the off-court activism has helped her energy and mindset in matches.

Exactly one month ago, George Floyd spoke his final words I can't breathe and changed the course of history, Pelosi said. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is perhaps the most ambitious set of proposed changes to police procedures and accountability in decades. After the GOP policing bill stalled this week, blocked by Democrats, Trump shrugged. The two parties are instead appealing to voters ahead of the fall election, which will determine control of the House, Senate and White House. Senate Democrats believe Senate Republicans will face mounting public pressure to open negotiations and act.

In this June 1, 2020, photo, people gather near the Cup Foods grocery store where George Floyd died in Minneapolis. And for George Floyd, it was an accusation he used a fake $20 bill at a grocery store. The Movement for Black Lives is behind a push for local communities to defund police departments nationwide, and reinvest in struggling black communities to address economic inequality and disparities in education and health care. That is a big piece that I think we need to focus on.Last week, Floyds family forwarded their pleas for racial justice to the United Nations. Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, said the demand that black lives are valued like white lives must begin at the community level.

Or a beloved Catholic peace activist who was the victim of police brutality in Buffalo, New York? In the video, an officer is seen shoving Gugino, who falls to the sidewalk, hitting his head. Martin has a passion for social justice, said Mark Colville, who runs Amistad Catholic Worker in New Haven, Connecticut, and has known Gugino for years. After the 2014 killing of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy who was shot by a police officer, Gugino traveled to Cleveland to meet with Rices parents. He is also active with the Western New York Peace Center and PUSH Buffalo, a coalition working on affordable housing.

FILE - In this March 5, 2019 file photo Ohio House minority leader Emilia Sykes delivers the Democrat's response to the Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's Ohio State of the State address at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. As of August 2018, at least 16 states had passed use-of-force laws, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. Other laws created task forces to set new standards, boosted training or improved tracking of officers' use of guns and deadly force. Police unions have often resisted attempts to restrict officers' use of deadly force and are politically potent in most states. In 2015, the board adopted statewide standards limiting use of deadly force by police officers to defending themselves or others from serious injury or death.