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Brandon Smith

Brandon Smith is a Chicago-based independent journalist who, with the help of whistleblowers and the Freedom of Information Act, has reported on civil rights abuses, privatization of public assets, digital privacy concerns and pollution of land and water.

December 2015

  • Alfontish Cockerham, 23, shot by a Chicago Police officer in the South Shore neighbourhood of Chicago

    Video raises questions over Chicago police account of fatal shooting

    Alfontish ‘Nunu’ Cockerham, 22, died days after he was shot by police in June, with police saying he pointed a gun – but moment does not appear in footage

November 2015

  • Still image from video released by Chicago Police shows Laquan McDonald before he was killed in Chicago<br>Laquan McDonald (R) walks on a road before he was shot 16 times by police officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago, in this still image taken from a police vehicle dash camera video shot on October 20, 2014, and released by Chicago Police on November 24, 2015. Van Dyke, a white Chicago policeman was charged on Tuesday with murdering black teenager McDonald, a prosecution that was speeded up in hopes of staving off a fresh burst of the turmoil over race and police use of deadly force that has shaken the U.S. for more than a year. REUTERS/Chicago Police Department/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

    I filed suit for the Laquan McDonald police video. Its mundanity shocked me

    Brandon Smith
    The lack of sound in the recording and the perfunctory way the officers moved and behaved made a horrifying act seem normal
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