This Saturday in #nerdland: horrifying policing.
We’ll talk about controversial police practices in several different cities. A dashcam video released this week shows Floyd Dent, a Detroit autoworker, taken from his car at gun point and assaulted by police during a traffic stop in the Detroit suburb of Inkster. The videotape shows Dent, unarmed, being tasered and punched by police. Mr. Dent and his attorney will be joining MHP to talk about what happened and what they want to see happen next. Meanwhile in Chicago, the American Civil Liberties Union found that last summer the Chicago Police Department stopped more than 250,000 people, mostly African American, without making an arrest. A federal mediator will be traveling to Pasco, Washington next week to start talks between police and community leaders after an unarmed Mexican man, 35-year old Antonio Zambrano-Montes, was shot and killed by police last month.
Joining us on our studio panel with be:
- Barbara Arnwine, President and Executive Director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorofChange
- Raul Reyes, Attorney and contributor to NBC News.com
- Dr. Jon M. Shane, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College and retired captain of the Newark Police Dept.
Then, a look at the power of the evangelical vote. The first official candidate of the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, made his announcement in Lynchburg, Virginia at Liberty University, the largest Christian University in the world. Meanwhile, Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Pence is facing growing backlash after signing the state’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” . Opponents believe it will leave businesses free to discriminate against members of the LGBT community and refuse them service.
We’ll also discuss voter suppression in Wisconsin, updates from the Germanwings plane crash, and when is Loretta Lynch going to be the next attorney general?
Be sure to read what we’ve linked above, and watch Melissa Harris-Perry Saturday at 10am ET on msnbc. Join the conversation—share your thoughts about these issues on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #nerdland.
Karisma Price